The real Dr. Patch Adams is in town

The colorful, unorthodox and real-life Dr. Patch Adams is in the Philippines spreading his doctrines that medicine is best practiced with cheer and that a good doctor has his patients in stitches — of laughter, that is.

At his first stop in a lecture series, Adams gave lectures loaded with inspirational messages about the joys of caring for sick people to thousands of students from the top medical schools of the country at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) campus.

While the typical doctor is seen as staid, orthodox and conservative, Adams — his hair dyed blue — faced local journalists wearing a colorful shirt tie-dyed in the colors of the rainbow and pajama-like trousers.

Adams’ visit was sponsored by Biomedis Inc., a subsidiary of drug firm giant United Laboratories.

Adams was made famous by a Hollywood movie about his life, work and Gesundheit! Institute starring comedian Robin Williams as Adams hit the big screen.

The Gesundheit! Institute is unique in that it accommodates all patients, whether they are covered by medical insurance or not, and provides them with free medical services.

This unconventional doctor advocates a personal and informal relationship between doctors and their patients. He also believes that the best approach to patient care is one where laughter is part of the prescription.

"Medical doctors should be more intimately involved in the personal part of the healing process," Adams said. "Scientific brilliance is the is an important tool, but it is not the magic that is inherent in healing."

Adams said, "there is a need to bring life back to the practice of medicine and, if there are medical doctors who should more deeply appreciate the value of a healthy, friendly patient-doctor relationship, it should be the Filipino doctor."

Adams’ message to the budding doctors is timely, especially in the face of the exodus of skilled health workers, such as doctors, nurses and medical technicians, to other countries, particularly the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, where they earn more than they would in the Philippines.

The exodus of medical personnel, once confined to nurses and medical technicians and other medical support staff, now includes doctors who are training to be nurses in order to work overseas.

Doctor-professors in medical schools revealed a large decrease in enrollment in medical schools for physicians’ courses. This decrease, they said, goes hand in hand with the steady increase in enrollment for nursing courses.