Philippine Medical Professionals: Pompous Dreams And Pageantry

This has been a very disturbing issue that I had been pondering in my thoughts as far back as I can remember. Just to make it clear that I do not have anything against what the Philippine medical profession, including the doctors, nurses and all those who are involved in making the standard of health in the Philippines a little better (and bearable) and what it represents. Nevertheless, I am deeply bothered by how those involve in ensuring that we all get a chance to be able to afford a “decent” medical service is represented. Fact is, doctors and nurses here in the Philippines are more concerned about  the pomp and pageantry that seemingly goes along hand in hand with being a doctor or a nurse for that matter, and is a “privilege” rather than an act of service for those who are in dire need of getting adequate medical help.

Philippine doctors and nurses walk among society here brandishing their privileged mind set thinking that they are life savers and should be given the respect that they “demand” from people that they serve. They can be seen walking around almost everywhere donning their medical gowns and wearing their stethoscopes around their necks despite the fact that they are already out of the hospital. What's even more intriguing is that they even wear their medical gowns when strolling in the malls as to make certain that people around them recognize them for what they are. I respect the fact that they have worked their asses off from years of studying in medical school to get to where they are right now, but does it really have to be necessary to prance around in their medical gowns and stethoscopes even if they are off duty...and of all the places, even in the mall?


It just clearly shows that they are all just a bunch of pompous braggarts giving out a clear statement of shouting out loud “Look at me you lowlifes! I am a doctor!”. This is a very intimidating scenario in which being a member of the Philippine medical profession gives you the right to have privileges such as putting a bumper sticker on your newly financed BMW stating, “Doctor, Do Not Delay” and being able to wear fashionable clothes to accentuate your social status as a lifesaver. Its really a big laugh to hear their oath of putting the importance to rendering their services to people who are in need of medical attention during their graduation rites, that puts the importance of saving lives before digging into their patients wallets. Unfortunately, the medical practice here in the Philippines is really the opposite of that, as many hospitals here require the patient to dough out money before giving them the medical attention that they desperately need.

That is the reason why most people in this country opt to stay at home, to die quietly in their beds, rather than seek out medical help from these so called “doctors” for the sole reason that a funeral will cost much less than being confined to a hospital bed. What's worse is that these doctors and nurses will give you hope that you will be able to overcome your ailments and be fine, despite the fact that they are just prolonging your agony health and money wise. The Philippine Medical Educational system is 30 years behind what is being taught in the Western hemisphere and what's even funnier is that doctors and nurses that go abroad are not even close to qualify to practice what they learned in the Philippines because the medical practices here are so outdated that they have to study everything again just to pass international medical standards.

The doctors that graduated here and have been practicing for more than 10 years end up as nurses in other countries because what they though they have learned was really not enough to make them capable of being doctors in other countries. You should see how insanely confident medical students are in this country, thinking that they have secured their future when all they really end up in the long run are just slaves that wipe other people's asses in the United States and in Europe. That is why many youths today, if they will ever have the privileged to study medicine and nursing, go into the medical profession, to get out of the country to serve in foreign lands and to earn money...not to serve the need of people that are in need of medical attention. Sadly enough, that is the real purpose of why there are so many medical and nursing students in this country.

The principle of rendering medical service to people is nothing more than a hypocritical charade masking the real purpose and intent of why they want to become doctors and nurses and clearly states why the Philippines is really all messed up, from the government all the way down to its medical professionals because it is all about the money and nothing else. In all seriousness, Philippine doctors and nurses really don't care about what happens to you as you lay on the hospital bed while you grimace in pain and agony, as all that matters to them is the money that they will be earning from your misfortune. In the Philippines, hospitals are like slaughter houses that earn from your need to save your own life as these doctors and nurses look upon you as slaves under their will. In a country where the government, the educational system and the way of life is nothing short compared to a nightmarish hell, most people opt to bear their health problems and even die accordingly to their own terms rather than seek the help from doctors and nurses. 

In other western countries where even homeless people get a fair chance of being able to avail free medical services, getting sick in the Philippines means a sure death, which is accompanied by the financial torment that follows after your demise. The real problem starts after you die, when the hospital and funeral bills come rolling in. There are no free funeral services in the Philippines, not even those sanctioned by the Philippine  government as they really don't give any concern to anything that you are presently going through at the moment. In South East Asia, the Philippines is one, if not the worst places that anyone can be, and when it comes to maintaining your health, you get a 50/50 chance of recovering when you are handled by doctors and nurses here. The way I see it, it is better to find a tree and sit down under its shade, hoping to fall asleep while reading a good book and never, ever waking up.

As of 2015, the international demand for Filipino nurses has declined as by as much as 30% compared to the last decade and the Philippine government has issued a policy stating that newly graduate nurses must first have a minimal 3 years of serving here in the Philippines before being allowed to go abroad. Another stupid development disclosed by a friend of mine is that after graduating and passing the nursing licensee exam, a newly graduated nurse has to come up with a little as much as 50,000 pesos to  undergo additional training before being able to apply to hospitals. And you know what, it so happens that newly graduate medical and nursing students have to pay hospitals to let them work there, now that is what I call pure bureaucratic crap!

As a means of making ends meet, most newly graduate nurses are forced to seek employment as call center agents just to raise the amount of money to be able to pay for these “extra added requirements”. Knowing Filipino medical and nursing students, looks like they gambled too much than they expected of it. Good luck to your future, if there is any future here in the Philippines that is.