Is there a doctor left in the house?

The worrying situationer: While the Department of Labor and Employment continued to deny reports that our health care system is in crisis due to the continued migration of medical professionals to other countries, Malacañang Palace admitted the exodus is in fact taking place, and to worrying proportions. In a recent STAR report of Aurea Calica, the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines disclosed that the number of private hospitals went down from around 1,700 in 2000 to only 700 this year – primarily because of the lack of doctors, nurses and even midwives who could attend to their patients. In November alone, 12 such hospitals ceased operating, while 11 closed down in October. A surprising fact is that many Filipino doctors return to school to get a degree in Nursing, because nurses are in greater demand abroad. Records from the UP National Institute for Health show that from 2001 to 2004, 3,000 doctors left the country to work as nurses.

With this dwindling rate of medical care practitioners, it may soon be the most dangerous thing to fall sick, have birth defects or contract some disease in this country of ours. Thank God that to date, the avian flu has not "flown" into our airspace.

And of course, our modus operandi is still to search for those OCWs and professionals who are doing great abroad, remitting precious dollars to our country, bestowing them our national thanks and giving them the key to every city, nook and cranny. I do recognize the value of what these people are doing, but I do decry the corresponding lack of attention and appreciation we give to those who have elected to come back or stay here in the Philippines.

In a recent episode of Talk Metro on Saturday nights ANC which I hosted, we brought to the studio three doctors who all had done tenure at respected universities and hospitals abroad. They all admitted colleagues were leaving by the planeload, and that their "wisdom" in choosing to stay was being questioned from several quarters. Call it national pride, a sense of duty for their less fortunate kababayans, or their being persistent enough to have found respective niches within the medical profession; but these three highly motivated and committed physicians were steadfastly proud of their staying put here in the Philippines. They weren’t blind to the frustrations and inherent problems of the local health care system, but they were united in saying that the heartfelt commitment to "stay behind" was done with no regrets.

Dr. Rafael Cruz Bundoc is a 1997 TOYM awardee in the field of Medicine. His CV lists a fellowship in Spine Surgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, a Diploma in Biomechanics from Stratchlyde University in Glasgow, Scotland and the distinction of being a Trueta Fellow in Cervical Spine Surgery at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Center, Oxford University, England.

Dr. Nathaniel Yang (with the wonderful nickname of Natzi) is a doctor of Otolaryngology, specializing in Otology, Neurology and Skull Base Surgery. The University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, USA had him walking their corridors.

Dr. Jonas Del Rosario specializes in Interventional Pediatric Cardiology and is a 2004 TOYM Awardee. Children’s hospitals and centers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Augusta, Georgia and a stint at the famed Montefiore Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Children’s Hospital in Bronx, New York are listed in his resumé. Jonas is part of a foundation that is doing its utmost to ensure that no Filipino child with a hole in his heart will not be given due medical attention simply because of lack of funds to pay for the required treatment. He is at the forefront of the non-surgical treatment of congenital heart diseases using therapeutic catherization.

You’ve read the biodata of these three doctors and it isn’t a far stretch to wonder why they aren’t earning the mega-bucks, and in dollars, that their qualifications would surely fetch abroad. They confirmed that the offers are there. Jonas is constantly asked if he’s now ready to board a plane and take up residency in this or that US city hospital. And they all consider teaching at universities and schools here a perpetual battle between sheer frustration and fulfillment.

I would like to think that stories like of these three doctors are replicated throughout our country. They are, to me, the unsung heroes of our era. I do recognize that it is against a mountain of odds that a Monique Lhuillier-Bugbee, Lea Salonga, Manny Pacquiao or Josie Natori, rise above the heap of their respective fields and create global impact; and yes, national pride is evoked by such things transpiring. But listening to these doctors talk that Saturday night, I felt my heart swell and personally, felt more pride in knowing these were Filipinos who have the opportunity to leave, but prefer to stay immersed here at home – doing their bit for the rest of us, the stranded.

Mechanical luxury

At a recent watchmaker event held at the Rockwell Power Plant, we once again saw how the Male arena of luxury acquisitions is imbued with the excellent cross-promoting possibilities of renowned brands and technological pride. This time out, it was watchmaker IWC and automotive giant Mercedes Benz forging an alliance that exemplified how craftsmanship and design are both instrumental in carrying a brand to the "top of the mountain." Reminiscent of how Breitling (another "name" watch brand also brought to us by the Lucerne Group) had worked with British automaker Bentley, this alliance was a merging of equities that proved how effective these exercises can be for all the parties involved.

It’s an excellent bonding exercise as both companies are strong on engineering, exhibiting a great passion for advancing the bounds of technology; whether it’s a watch or car in question. Meeting on the peak of precision engineering was no problem for these two giants – and the resultant windfall has local distributors Lucerne and CATS Motors beaming from ear to collective ear. This time out, it was the Ingenieur watch that was being "revived" and as IWC had been commissioned to produce the dashboard clocks that adorn some of the more forward-looking models of Mercedes, it was no surprise to find a Mercedes vehicle amidst the watch displays. The heights of luxury, design, dependability, service and engineering: these all find tangible manifestation in the "marriage" of IWC and Mercedes-Benz.

The Ingenieur line, as it names suggests, is the apotheosis of IWC’s commitment to honoring the "engineer" that resides in any watchmaker’s personality, and the wearer’s appreciation of extreme technological standards. In its 2005 version, the line consists of a Chronograph-AMG and an Automatic-AMG model, as well as the standard Chronograph and Automatic, and Midsize Ingenieurs. These Midsize models support the recent trend of women preferring to wear watches that have a distinct Men’s look to them.

As a sidebar, this alliance of IWC Schaffhausen and Mercedes-AMG crosses over to other events, where with common purpose, both brands work to help bring other events into the limelight – or reciprocally bask in the reflected glory. The Laureus World Sports Award is one such example. The 2005 winners of Sportsman Roger Federer, Sportswoman Kelley Holmes and Team winner the Greek National Football Team, were honored at an event held at the Casino Etorial in Portugal that was watched by over a billion viewers in May 2005. Both IWC and Mercedes are the founding sponsors for this awards show. In fact, in 2006, a Special Edition Laureus IWC Ingenieur Watch will be issued, its back case adorned by the winning painting of the Time For Inspiration competition being held among children between the ages of four to 16. They will submit paintings revolving around the theme of how Sports has changed their lives, inspired them and given them hope for the future.

In causes like these, and the lending of their names, that allow companies like IWC to create an aura that extends beyond the purely commercial aspect of their company’s existence. Pride in the professionalism of the watchmakers, and the level of craftsmanship they bring to their work; these are just some of the elements that give luster to the IWC name.