10 reasons to become a doctor
Q. We are both doctors and have always wanted our 16-year-old daughter Mary Jane to take up medicine. However, she is undecided but is leaning towards taking CPA or Nursing. How can we convince her? — Concerned parents
A. For Mary Jane: I know you are about to finish high school and considering a nursing or a business course. Both are good choices. But what about medicine? I know medicine has been getting a bad rap in recent years, but I feel the situation is about to change. For the youth, I’d like to share with you 10 best reasons to become a doctor and fulfill your dreams:
1. Prestige and respect. There is nothing like adding an MD after your name. May de la Cruz can easily become Dr. May de la Cruz. The respect accorded doctors rivals that of any other profession. For Dr. Martesio C. Perez, “Medicine is considered one of the noblest professions. It was my parents’ dream for me to become one. I have never regretted it.”
Dr. Gonzalo F. Austria agrees, “Being poor, I had a soft heart for human suffering. Medicine, I was convinced, was a prestigious profession.”
2. Ability to help. If you want to make a difference, if you want to help the sick and poor, then this is the profession for you. Armed with only a stethoscope, doctors help multitudes by just sitting, listening, and advising. Unlike businessmen who need to donate millions in order to help, for doctors, helping is a way of life.
Dr. Clemente M. Amante says it clearly, “I feel that this is the best way to help people, rich or poor, young or old.”
3. Influence. Being a doctor opens some doors in business, in advocacies, and even in the love life department. Be sure to use your expertise to good use.
4. Lots of friends (and admirers, too). One thing sure, if you’re a doctor, you’ll never be lonely or bored. With daily patient interaction, you get the inside scoop to people’s darkest secrets. And there’ll always be someone asking for your help.
5. Caring for one’s family. Every family needs a doctor. There’s nothing like a doctor-son or daughter caring for his or her parents. Diseases are detected early, treated correctly, and lives are prolonged. Less worry and headache for everyone. This was especially true for Dr. Manuel Chua-Chiaco Sr. who confides, “I wanted to be a doctor to be of service to my family. My father had tuberculosis, my mother had hypertension, two brothers had thyrotoxicosis, and one sister had severe asthma.”
6. You won’t starve (but you may not get rich either). Earning tons of money in medicine is possible but sometimes, your conscience dictates that you give free services. If you are a believer like me, I guess the doctor’s rewards are in heaven (where moths and insects can’t get to them).
7. Doable even with an average IQ. For medical students, earning the MD is the norm rather than the exception. You don’t have to be a genius. Perseverance is all you need. You could be like Dr. Trinidad Echano-Madrigal who hates math, “It was the only career option requiring a minimum of math subjects. I was poor in numbers, hence the choice.”
8. Indispensability. Dr. Ernesto P. Namin waxes romantic, “The most needed professionals in my community were physicians and I felt it was romantic to be indispensable.”
9. God’s servant. Spirituality and peace of mind are welcome benefits for doctors. There’s nothing like helping needy people to cleanse one’s soul. Dr. Amado M. San Luis underscores the spiritual aspect of medicine: “I consider medicine to be the noblest profession and an extension of God’s healing hand, the only profession given the privilege to understand life and cure diseases afflicting man.”
Dr. Homobono B. Calleja agrees, “Of the three learned professions (the clergy, law, and medicine), medicine serves the totality of the human being, the spiritual as well as the physical.”
10. Love of country. Here is something new. In the light of the brain drain of health workers, studying medicine and practicing in the country, especially in far-flung areas, have been equated with heroism. Our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, was a doctor who studied abroad and came back to serve his country.
Well, that’s it. I hope I have enlightened you on the benefits of pursuing a medical career. Medicine is truly a noble profession, as Hippocrates said. Consider it!
Q. Doc, I saw on the Internet that you have a Philippine medical museum and that we can go there for free. What can we see and how do we visit? — Mark, freshman medical student
A. The Co Tec Tai Medical Museum is named after our patriarch, Co Tec Tai. It’s the first and only medical museum open to the public for free. My wife, Dr. Liza, and I took 12 years to collect the antique materials we have gathered there, going as far as Washington, Maryland, and Madison, USA, Madrid, Spain, and Tokyo, Japan to bring these lost items of our heritage back to our country.
The Co Tec Tai Medical Museum collection has over 3,000 antique photos showing the evolution of healthcare in the Philippines from the Spanish era to the American era and Japanese period up to the present times. There are early runs of journals from the 1900s, medical paintings, stamps, and coins. We have also set up an old medical and dental clinic.
This non-profit, non-government project is under the helm of its chairperson Julie Ong-Alonzo. According to Julie, over 15,000 nursing and medical students have already visited the museum. They come in batches of hundreds and we give lectures on Philippine medical history along with the museum tour.
And it’s all for free. Free entrance, free lectures, and free certificates for every student. This is our way of giving back to our nurses, doctors, and the healing professions.
The museum is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is on the fourth floor of the Sonlie Building at 2652 Taft Avenue, Pasay City, (between Libertad Street and EDSA). For more information, call 833-8292 or 833-0215; e-mail at sonlie@info.com.
