The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

Entering medical school can be very expensive. This is one of the factors that has helped dwindle the enrollees for the medical schools nationwide. Wanting to address the possible scarcity in medical students and eventually medical doctors, the Department of Health, together with Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, are offering full scholarships to students who are interested to become doctors. Doc Christine, former DTTB and now working in the HHRDB of the DOH, just emailed me about the pinoy MD program of the Department of Health. Perhaps, someone out there might be interested. Here is the entire email about the Pinoy MD Program. PLEASE SPREAD THE NEWS! You may know someone who is interested. The Philippine Charity Swepstakes Office and the Department of Health is offering 100 scholarships for medical school each year. Pinoy MD 5-year Scholarship Package includes: Tuition fees, lab and misc fees and semestral book allowances, semestral uniform allowances, daily board and lodging ...

Officially, on the 3rd of December, The Freudian Slip will be changing subtitle: from the general practice to doctor to the barrio. On the 3rd of December I will be going to Candoni and will serve the mountainous municipality of Candoni as their new Municipal Health Officer. In the last month, I have been bombarded with a lot of health programs of the Government: from E.P.I. to STH to AI to NTP to DOTS to SS to PHIC to GP to KOT to IMCI to BEMOC/CEMOC to a whole more of initials and acronyms. Being a doctor to the barrio therefore is not simply just a vacation. Like a resident inside a hospital, a rural doctor also has many responsibilities and opportunities to train. We will be having our regular CME (not another initial, gaddamit!) every 6 months. Our first CME will be held in Manila. Usually, CMEs are held in other provinces outside Manila but they schedule it alternately. In CMEs (or continuing medical education) we are to report on our accomplishments as MHOs (municipal health off...

I had my "real age" calculated. Biologically speaking, I am already 27 years old. However, after answering some questions about my health, lifestyle and other personal and family history, a website told me that my "Real age" is actually 24.5 years old as of today. And I can still be younger. In fact, the same website offered a personalized "RealAge" plan to make myself younger than my biological age. Talk about the fountain of youth. Anyway, I am posting the plan here, which actually is not just exclusive to me. The plan in itself can be used by other people to become "younger" than their real age. ACTION PLAN: Taking multivitamins or single vitamin and mineral supplements helps ensure that you get the RealAge Optimal dose of these important antioxidants each and every day. Make sure that your daily dietary intake of potassium is at least 3,000 milligrams. Potassium-rich foods include orange juice, potatoes, avocados, figs, bananas, lentils, soyb...

Here are snapshots from Manila during our Predeployment seminar in the Department of Health Doctors To The Barrio Program:

Unless something comes up, December 3 will be my day of deployment to Candoni, Negros Occidental. I am currently blogging from Iloilo City, attending another 2-week briefing in the Center for Health Development Office in Region 6, which is in Mandurriao, Iloilo. This briefing will consist of more specific details regarding projects and programs of the Department of Health, particularly the thrusts and direction of Western Visayas in this aspect. They are boring, but very very very important. For example, I just got information that Candoni Main Health Facility has yet to be certified in the DOTS program and cannot therefore be accredited by PHILHEALTH. It is a challenge therefore in my part to leave my municipal health office after two years as a DTTB as a certified DOTS center and PHIC accredited. I already secured a list of requirements and necessities to accomplish. In fact, long before this briefing in the regional level, it was already a personal agenda to make the Candoni Health ...

Slide show was edited by yours truly and was presented during the culminating night of the DTTB Batch 23, Aloha Hotel, Manila, Philippines. For more details about the DTTB batch 23, click here .

I am in Iloilo City, bound for Bacolod tomorrow. The past few hours have been total rush. I cannot even type straight for this blog. So please forgive me if at the latter part of the blog, I may sound like a stenographed telegram if there ever is one. Yesterday - attended the first national summit on health human resources at the manila peninsula, had picture-taking with Senator Pia and Sec. Duque. The place was astounding and the topics were very relevant and interesting. Some policies proposed during the forum were: mandatory 2 months actual rural exposure for PGIs, mandatory 6 months rural training and service as a requirement for the national med boards and mandatory 2 years rural service for those who graduated from state colleges and universities. This morning - processing papers, running here and there. It was crazy! We were almost supposed to bring 4 boxes of medicines all summing up to about more than 40 kilos, estimated to be around 400,000 pesos worth of drugs. Anyway, I ha...

Everyone is cramming, trying to make final reservations for their respective flights to their respective Center for Health Development. With no available cash advance yet and with little time before the week ends, everyone is thinking what to do and where to go. I have made my own booking with Cebu pacific online since Philippine Airlines do not permit online booking in less than 3 days before the desired flight. Fortunately, Cebu Pacific allows online booking in less than 3 days. So I made my reservations for the last afternoon flight for Iloilo on November 16 and will be staying their overnight before I cross to Bacolod City the next day. On Monday, I will cross back to Iloilo again to officially report to my CHD in region 6. I wanted to make a direct flight to Bacolod but our itinerary report must reflect that our destination from Manila will be to our respective CHDs. And since the CHD of region 6 is in Iloilo City, then I have no choice but to fly to Iloilo first then cross to Bac...

It brought chills down my spine. After watching an IMAX movie at MOA yesterday, I dropped by this exhibit about the Shroud of Turin. At first I thought it was just a walk-in exhibit but actually, it was a walk-through exhibit. What I mean is, there was a tour guide who would lead you through every step of the way. And it was not just an exhibit of pictures. There were "choreographed" diorama presentations and film showings. All in all the entire exhibit tour was around 30-45 mins. At the end of the exhibit of course is the display of the replica of the shroud itself. Adjoining the room where the replica was displayed was a gallery of pictures, an adoration chapel and a religious shop. In the religious shop the Sisters were selling archangel figurines. "Know Your Archangel" it said. So I was curious to know who my "archangel" so I asked. They asked me for my birthdate. I told them and I was told that I was born on a Tuesday. "Your archangel therefore i...

After attending the holy mass at Malate Church, a walking distance from the hotel, I was inspired to formulate this prayer for the Doctors To The Barrio Batch 23. It is a paraphrased prayer popularized by St. Francis of Assisi. The original Prayer is actually a prayer for peace and it is fitting that in my municipality, in the past, there have been instances of armed conflicts between the New People's Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Part of the history of Candoni is actually the formation of a Peace Zone initiated by the people of the area, fed up by the violence and conflict. I am hoping to channel this desire for peace in relation to the delivery of health services. Peace for Health! Lord, make me a genuine doctor to the barrio; where there is illness, let me provide healing; where there is injury, care; where there is conflict, resolution; where there is confusion, order; where there is despondency, encouragement; and where there is despair, hope. O Divine Master, ...

Day 5 and Day 6 of the Predeployment seminar for the DTTB were interesting. Day 5 was spent for medico-legal the entire morning. Our lecturer was Atty. Floresto Arizala, MD, a doctor and an attorney-at-law at the same time, one of only 11 doctor-lawyers in the country and the only doctor-lawyer to be associated and working for the National Bureau of Investigaion. His lectures were actually a review of our Legal Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, almost like a crash course of the entire two books of Solis. But while he was lecturing the topics, it was very clear, concise and entertaining as well. He never ran out of jokes. And he had so many stories to tell. He showed us pictures of actual autopsies and his findings, especially of high-profiled cases. One of the more interesting topic, under his lecture on ballistics, was the theories on the death of JFK. The doctor who autopsied the assassinated U.S. President was a personal close friend of Dr. Arizala. He was actually proposing an i...

Funny Videos which I think everyone should see: While You Were Sleeping... Dancing To The Rhythm Creative Way of Sleeping Break Time Break Dance

Today is Day 4 of the predeployment seminar of batch 23 doctors to the barrio. It was a long day. Batch 23 had numerous lectures focusing on the numerous DOH national programs, particularly the Tuberculosis Program, Maternal and Child Health, Family Planning and about the Local Health Systems. Most of our lecturers were already specialists who were former DTTBs themselves and decided to continue their service through DOH. Highlights for Day 4: Day 4 - lectures, lectures, lectures; Landbank ATM account forms were submitted, finally; new DTTB member was introduced, Eric from Tarlac, who will be assigned at Quezon Province; Sun Life Insurance was introduced for those interested to maintain a life insurance; Dr. Nodora arrived for a brief visit, told us a very good news (I won't tell it yet so as not to preempt the Department of Health); Motto/Expression for the day: "Patay tayo dyan" courtesy of Prince from Marawi City; Merly played a familiar tune on the piano inside the co...

Today is Day 3 of the Predeployment seminar of Batch 23 of DOH's Doctors to the barrio program. This is perhaps a day of respite. The following are the highlights of this day's event: Day 3 - started a day with a "unique" prayer from a fellow DTTB; former DTTBs facilitated the team-building exercise; the big groups was divided into two teams, one leader for each team, the rest were blindfolded; with only the leaders to give the members the final instructions, the rest of the team were tasked to form a word out of the scrambled letters (which we could not actually see); my team lost to the other team but we were able to form the word with all letters in proper formation; of course, the OCs of the other teams could not keep still after finding out that while they guessed the word correctly, some of the letters were inverted; the facilitators made the connection between the activity and community organization. After a long lecture on LGUs and RHUs, the afternoon was spe...

I am now at Aloha Hotel posting this blog after a sumptuous lunch. Today is the second day of the pre-deployment seminar. I arrived here in Manila Sunday evening. It wasn't a nice flight, with intermittetn turbulence and a noisy crying infant right behind me. By the time I touched down at NAIA, Stephen, a fellow DTTB, texted me that he, Celna and Mai-Mai were already at the hotel. Stephen and I are sharing the same room. After a late dinner and a brief chit-chat with my DTTB-mates, I had to sleep early. Sunday was a "from-duty" day and I only had 3 hours of sleep. In fact, that Sunday afternoon, I woke up with a bad cramp on my right leg. It was excruciating and I was almost limping while leaving the house heading for the airport. Anyway, here are the highlights of the first two days of the seminar: Day 1: meet the rest of the DTTB Batch 23; found out later that we were 14 in all, with 3 others who were former DTTBs but decided to re-apply again for the program, call them...

I am writing this blog from the confines of the conference room of the CLMMRH Department of Medicine. I am currently doing cover duty for my senior residents and previous-and-still-up-to-the-present mentors in the Internal Medicine Department. They are having their planning somewhere and they needed help manning the E.R. and the wards while they are away. It was a weird feeling going back at CLMMRH doing E.R. duty. I missed the golden days of Junior Internship. I was happy to see my batchmates also, Mary Ann, Gesper and Mackoy. I am proud to see them doing good in their residency training. I had to admit that I was feeling nostalgic the entire time during my "toxicities" at the E.R. Doc Bacinillo returned at around 11 pm so I went to the wards, checked whatever patient was needing some referral and went up to the conference room with Doc Tomampos, one of my bosses in BOLMSH who was also helping out doing cover duty. I had to admit: kahilidlaw gid. Doc Tomampos decided to tak...

Today is All Soul's Day, technically, the actual day during which living relatives are supposed to visit the graves of their dead loved ones. Yesterday was All Saints' Day, the day which the Catholic Church proclaimed as the feast day for all the saints which do not have official feast days. The Old name of All Saints' Day is All Hallows' Day. Hallow is an another name for Blessed or saint. It is therefore a misconception to associate Hallows' Eve or Day with Ghosts. Perhaps the relation is that the saints in heaven are all dead. Remembering the dead is also the time for thinking on how do I want to be remembered when I am dead. If there is one wish I can ask from St. Peter in the moment of my death, I wish to stay on earth for a couple of days, my spirit roaming the world of the living, curious to know how people I know would talk about me now that I am dead. That must be intriguing. Anyway, it will be a start of a long weekend for me. I will be doing "cover d...