By CEDRICK LOUIS S. ANTIQUINA, RMT, MD
Talk delivered during the Rotary Career Service activity for graduating students of Holy Cross High School, organized by the Rotary Club of Dumaguete South in celebration of Rotary International Week, with the theme “Create Hope in the World”.
Let me begin with a series of questions:
1) Who wants to get rich fast?; 2) Who wants to sleep fulfilled after a long day’s work?; 3) Who wants to spend good quality time with family?
Well, if you answered YES to any of those questions, then my advice to you: DON’T BE A DOCTOR.
So maybe you’re thinking: But Doc Ced, didn’t we invite you to this gathering to encourage the students to become doctors?
Well, I did come here to share with you what the life of a doctor is, and that include the hard truths.
Let’s begin with Question #1 about getting rich fast: Nuh- uh, the journey to becoming a medical professional requires much financial investment from your parents or sponsors.
You see, after graduating from Senior High School, you still have to go to a Pre-Med course for at least four years, this could be any course like the usual Medical Technology, Nursing, Physical Therapy, or the uncommon ones for Pre-Med like Business Administration, Teacher Education, or even Engineering.
Current Philippine law requires incoming students for Medical School to be graduates of four-year baccalaureate degrees.
After you hurdle the four-year Pre-Med, you are then required to take the National Medical Admission Test, a prerequisite for enrollment in all medical schools in the Philippines. Each school has its own desired percentile rank.
Then you proceed to Medicine proper. Four years, eight semesters with at least P100,000 per semester.
This leads to Internship for a year where you spend for your food during duties in the hospital, as well as other expenses.
Then finally the Board Exam where you become full-fledged physicians.
Some proceed to further Training Programs for Specialization, and Sub-Specialization.
All in all it takes around 12 years from now, for you to become a doctor, and start earning.
Next question: “sleep is life” for doctors? Well, no, not really.
You see, as early as MedSchool, you spend most of your nights studying for loads of exams. Almost everyday you get to review long chapters for exams that you need to ace.
During clerkship (which is the 4th year of Medical School), and the Internship, you also get to go on 24- to even 36-hour hospital duty.
When you become licensed physicians, you also go on duty, sometimes only sparing a few hours for a nap.
As consultants, you always have to put your phones on standby for midnight referrals.
Sleep then becomes a luxury; a rare jewel for doctors.
Which leads us to the last question: quality time with family. It is true, that some doctors rarely leave the hospital.
It is also evident that some doctors find it hard to insert vacations in between duty periods. It is true that sometimes the doctor would have to miss special family occasions to attend to emergencies. It is true that you will be sacrificing a part of your youth to prepare for the profession of healing. That is the hard truth.
But you know what, despite all that, becoming the doctor is the most fantastic career to be in.
When you become a doctor, you become enriched by the vast knowledge of the medical world. You get to know diseases how they come to be, and how to treat them. You get to know different medicines, various therapy options, the many signs and symptoms that give clues to what your patient’s situation is.
A child comes in wheezing, no fever, no previous admissions, you could probably identify it as Asthma.
You get to explore the world of parasites, bacteria, and other microorganisms.
On-and-off fever, vomiting, abdominal pain with signs of bleeding, that’s Dengue Fever caused by Dengue virus brought by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Right lower abdominal pain, with fever, vomiting, probably Appendicitis, and needs immediate surgery.
This is the kind of wealth that cannot be taken away from you. This is the kind of wealth that you will surely have once you become a doctor.
And of course, the secondary, and less important material wealth follows. Knowledge is power and wealth, and it is up for the taking, so be a doctor.
Yes, sleep is rare for doctors but we dont want that, rather we want to sleep fulfilled, and happy to see that after a long day’s work, you somehow made a difference to a patient’s life.
It is so much fulfilling to watch your patient, who came in so weak with high fever, get discharged, feeling so much better with a smile on their face. It is relaxing to sleep with the sound of newborns — whom you helped deliver in this world — ringing in your mind. It is heartwarming to hear a thank you from a patient whom you saved from a near-death experience.
Sleep then becomes the tap on your back, saying “Good job, Doctor!” You saved lives today. Recharge now, and save more tomorrow.
Becoming a doctor makes you the hero of not just your family, but of the multitude of people you have helped. You become closer to realization of God’s intended purpose for you — to become His instrument of healing in this world. You appreciate life more, and you value time spent wisely. Time with family becomes quality time as you realize more of life, and that what you are doing is for your family, for the dreams and aspirations of your loved ones, and for His glory. All these you get when you become a doctor.
So dear young ones, I challenge you, and I invite you, to not only become a doctor but rather, Be the Doctor! The doctor that serves selflessly. The doctor that cares genuinely. The doctor that makes a difference wherever you are planted. The doctor that gives hope. The doctor that breathes life. Come on, and be the doctor! God bless you on your journey.
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Dr. Cedrick Antiquina is chief of hospital of Nabilog Community Hospital in Tayasan, Negros Oriental. He was one of the recipients of the provincial government’s scholarship program for a medical degree.
