The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

Here's a video I edited and presented during our graduation ballfor Class 2006 USLS College of Medicine: Will be posting more videos in the coming days.

As part of the requirements for PHILHEALTH Accreditation, my staff and I took on our uniforms and posed for the camera last Monday. The rest of the municipal employees were surprised to see my nurses in their whites, my midwives in their scrub suits and me in my immaculate white lab gown. Even the mayor commended us for looking so nice and so professional. "Daw ma ospital na gid ta diri sa Candoni," said SB Dolores Tomol, chairman for health. In due time, Candoni will have its own Infirmary. In fact, during my first local health board meeting with the mayor last Thursday, the plans for the infirmary was one of the major agenda. During the LHB meeting, I also updated the mayor of our upcoming activities for the Month of February, which is also Cardiovascular Diseases Month, a.k.a Heart Month. We will be launching our heart Month activities on Valentine's Day, a week late, because Candoni will be having its town fiesta on February 6-11, 2008. One of the more ambitious proje...

Last Sunday, while on my way to Candoni, my staff texted me to drop by Kabankalan City. The city was celebrating its Sinulog Festival in honor of the Sto. Niño. Dra. Guardiario, our visiting consultant in Candoni RHU, was having a party in her residence. It was a bit early and the RHU Ambulance was in the vicinity because they had to refer a patient to the district hospital for severe dehydration. So I decided to drop off Kabankalan City, find my way through the crowded streets into Dra. Guardiario's home, and later went down with some of my staff at ground zero to take some pictures of the festivities. It was my first Sinulog Festival. Here are some pictures I took while roaming the festive streets of Kabankalan.

I am currently in Bacolod writing this blog. The first meeting of MHOs and CHOs of the province for the year has just ended. I was once again introduced among the MHOs and CHOs as Candoni's new MHO. Murcia's MHO was also introduced. The two of us were neophytes in the field. For this week, meetings and meetings. Next week, more meetings. January is a month of paperworks and reports, validations and assessment, and meetings. I have been frequenting the office of the Mayor, talking about plans for 2008. I have been going from one place to another, talking with my DOH rep, my SB for health, my midwives and medical staff, discussing new policies, new standards and sharing visions and dreams. I am fortunate to have a staff who have been sharing the same dream for Candoni. The entire place is poor but with a vigorous and God-fearing mayor, albeit hounded by political intrigues, along with a dedicated team of health workers, I am confident that we will perform very well for 2008. Belo...

The year 2008 is barely a dozen days old. Life in Candoni is beginning to become a little fast paced. As promised, reforms in the Rural Health Unit are being introduced slowly and steadily. I already submitted my accomplishment report for the month of December to the Regional Office last week. I left a copy at the Provincial Health Office and also gave one to my Local Chief Executive. In a nutshell, what has been done in December was mostly troubleshooting the existing problems and challenges of the RHU. A brief description of my RHU: My RHU is currently "squatting" at the Rescue Unit Center of the Municipality. The original RHU is under renovation. My mayor is putting up an infirmary so the old RHU is being renovated now. The Rescue Center is quite small compared to the original RHU but it can provide office space for me, my Nurse-2, my RSI, my Midwife microscopist, a 4 bed observation ward, a trauma center, a small labor room and delivery room, a small lab and washing area ...

During my first month in Candoni as DTTB, I have learned a lot about myself, my work and my surroundings. One of the many lessons learned is that, " Yes, kaya ko man gali ". Life is tough in the "barrio" and while it may be slow paced, it is never boring, especially the moments I had encountering patients either in the field or in our dispensary. Life is tough in the barrio. I am constantly surrounded by reminders of poverty. There is this parent whose child was suffering from third degree malnutrition, who suddenly had acute diarrhea and was severely dehydrated. We had to refer them to the hospital for aggresive management, but the parents were so poor they have been growing hungry for days. Obviously, they refused the referral. A few days later, I learned that the child died. She was two years old. The mother was only 18 years old, and is at the moment pregnant with her second child. And then there was this 80-year-old lady who was almost blind and was living alon...

It is the new year and I wanted to make my new year's resolutions. But I wasn't in the mood to making promises I just could not keep. I was wanting first of all to reduce weight. Second, I was wanting to lengthen my patience a little longer. Lastly, I was wanting to lessen my pride just a bit. But I am pretty sure I could not really keep my promise of a diet. Certainly the stress at work will challenge my patience even more. And my mouth is too small to swallow a bit more of my pride. But the new year came in almost like a hush whisper. Yes, there were the usual fireworks and noise, not to mention the gastronomical feast, but 2008's entrance was not as special as one would probably hope. However, like any other new Year's Day, I was given the chance to look back at 2007 and reflect on the year that was added to the archives. If there is one word to describe 2007, it's this: Adventure. 2007 is a year of adventure. It is in 2007 that I had the most exciting moments of...