For Medical Students
If somebody were to ask me “Did you enjoy medical school?” I wouldn’t know how to answer. First year was awkward, second year was tiring, I learned most during third year, clerkship tested my limits, and internship was liberating. Except for two, these stories were written during and thus represent serial snapshots of that period.
When asked for advice, I always say to my students and interns, don’t hurry. Med school is fast enough as it is. Take your time and do your best to learn what you have to. That is the commitment we all have to make when we decide to become doctors: a lifetime of learning and self-improvement.
If you are a medical student or if you want to go into med school, I hope these stories help you find inspiration, or answers, or whatever it is that you’re looking for.
M.D.
I am not supposed to be in med. While most people – I, at times – say I shouldn’t be a doctor, the real reason is because I couldn’t.
Although I already knew since first year high school that I wanted to be a physician, my inclination was never towards the life sciences. I despised my biology class; I hated having to memorize every italicized and bold printed term in the book just to pass my teacher’s verbatim exams. I am more of a Math-Chem-Physics student, preferring to memorize a little and derive everything else. Add to that my heightening interest in the literary arts, and it will be clear why I shouldn’t have attended med school. Continue reading →
Gusto Kong Maging Doktor Dahil
“So, why do you want to be a doctor?”
Pipilitin kong tumingin nang diretso sa mga mata ng nagtatanong sa akin. Ilalabas ang matagal ring pinagpraktisang ngiti. Kaunti lang. Sapat upang magbigay ng impresyong sigurado ako sa mga susunod kong salita.
“Because I want to make a difference in other people’s lives.” Continue reading →
Meeting Memory
I met her yesterday. She was, despite a scar the size of a rice grain above her left eyebrow, beautiful. I was alone, slouching on a wooden bench along Manila Bay, taking pleasure in the intermittent breeze which smelled of salt and sea and sanity and peace. The rim of the sun had just touched the horizon when I noticed her walking towards where I was. Continue reading →
Gutterboy
Gutterboy drops his bag on the floor and throws his keys on top of his study table. Today, he took his last exam. That his first year in medical school is over still seems surreal to him. He has long wished for this day to come, and now that it has, the feeling of relief overwhelms him. Continue reading →
Ang Kamay
Dati-rati
Ipinanguguhit lang ng bahay
Panira ng laruan
Pangmano kay Itay
Kinukulayan ang mundo ng kasiyahan
Binibilang ng mga daliri bituin sa kalangitan.
Sino nga ba ang mag-aakala
Na ito’y mabibigyan ng pagkakataong
Makapaglingkod sa kapwa?
Continue reading →
The Doctor I Do Not Want to Be
Through Ofelia Reyes, a 36-year-old laundrywoman and mother of two, I would get to know the resident physician who I’d never want to be. To this day, remembering what transpired that night in Ward 1 still makes me shudder, for I had never thought anyone could commit such atrocity to a patient spending whatever was left of her short life confined in her charity hospital bed, not knowing whether the next attempt to take a deep, painful breath would be her last. Continue reading →
Dalawang Tanong na Hindi Ko Kinalilimutang Itanong sa Aking mga Pasyente (o sa Kanilang Pamilya)
Humigit-kumulang walong taon na akong nakikipag-usap at nagpapaliwanag sa mga pasyente ng pinakamalaking pampublikong ospital ng Pilipinas. Bilang medical student noon at neurosurgery resident ngayon, natutuhan kong dalawang tanong ang pinakaimportante sa lahat. Continue reading →
Ngayong Isa Ka Nang Doktor
Suot ang toga at hawak ang kunwaring diploma, mahirap bilangin kung ilang daang araw na nga ba ang lumipas mula nang una kang tumayo sa harap ni Lady Med. Natapos ka rin, sa wakas. Continue reading →
Photo Credit: Gelo Manalang
