34th CME Doctors to the Barrio: Ongoing

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It is now the third day of the 34th CME of the Doctors to the Barrios and the CME is being held here in Hotel Kimberly, Tagaytay. Perhaps it is a perfect getaway for these tired DTTB's, many of whom have been deployed in the most merciless areas of the country. So, last Monday, I woke up early and headed to the airport where I took the first flight out to Manila. In the same flight was Doctor Jesena, a pediatrician and former professor in the College of Medicine. We talked about a lot of stuff and somehow, my conversation with the good doctor has also helped me think of my plans after DTTB. My stint as a DTTB will end after 6 months, which means, I will be unemployed by the end of October.

I arrived in Manila at around 8 a.m. and headed immediately to the Central Office in Tayuman, where the rest of the DTTB's were waiting with the bus which would bring us to Tagaytay. We left Manila at around 10:30 a.m. It was a 2-hour land trip and by the time we reached Hotel Kimberly, it was already past 12 noon. We had our lunch and after we caught up with old friends, we settled to our rooms. Of course, my usual roommates are still Doc Tep, Doc Prince and Don Lyndon. I was able to catch up also with Doc Marc Japitana whom I now officially consider as a distant cousin. My paternal grandmother's name was Fe Julieta Japitana Palzarrio. Coincidentally, Doc Andy, a classmate and good friend, was also moonlighting at Tagaytay Medical Center, so we were able to see each other during the second day of the CME already.

I was impressed with Hotel Kimberly. It is relatively a new hotel in the area and I heard it was a 4-star hotel. The place looked amazing and the weather in Tagaytay made it more heavenly. It is quite expensive though and the wi-fi which I am using now is not free. I have to pay 500 pesos for 6 hours use of the wifi. There is linen service, a pool, gym and a massage but the massage is quite expensive, around 700 pesos for one hour of Swedish whole body massage.

TV channels are not plenty either, with only around 8 or 9 channels I think. Not much of a choice for TV entertainment. But then again, who needs TV entertainment during CME. It is time to "study" (kuno) and "learn" about stuff that is important for our work in the rural.

We were able to meet with the rest of the DTTB's from Batch 25 (youngest and newest) to Batch 22 (the graduating batch). I belong to Batch 23.

So far, we had debriefing during the first day, clinical lectures on Dermatology and Emergency Medicine and COmmunity Orthopedics during the second day and currently having lectures on Psychiatric Emergencies, Alternative Medicine and Community Surgery today. Tomorrow and Friday will be more on public health topics.

I need to send some important emails now and have to go back to the lectures so I have to keep this blog entry short for the mean time.





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