Doc Ahmad Hajiri

I highly support the notion of providing free hospitalizations for the really indigent people, but here are some interesting points for discussion: 1) If ever the government will pay for the hospitalization of the poor, how are they going to choose whom to provide the free services? Should they just accept everyone who claims, as said in this article, those who will come and say "I am poor, if I don't have a disease, then look for one that I might have."? I seriously don't think that is the best way to give free services. Yes, if the government could provide these necessary services to its poor people for free, then by all means, it should be done. But critical PRIORITIZATION of patients should be in place. I mean, the number of those who actually don't need this service greatly outnumbers those who really need them. 2) How much are we willing to spend for the "poor"? Are the tax-paying citizens willing to pay for the likes of those chronic alcoholics an...

Feb 2 2016 It was just one of those usual busy days at the wards. My watch just told me it's almost 3 in the afternoon. I haven't had my lunch yet and I still have a lot of things to do. And while I was savagely writing down my SIC progress notes on one of my patient's chart earlier, at that same time, my brain cells were as busy deciding which of the couple more things to I still need to do must come next. And then, someone tapped my back and called me: "Sir sir, excuse me, sir." I stopped writing and looked at this guy whom I almost failed to recognize. I remember his face during my short stay in the Emergency Department, but I just can't locate his name, nor his story how we met in that ever-so-busy place. "Sir, mabuti nakita ko po kayo," He said with a smile. "Oh kumusta na po?" I asked him pretending I remember him that well, while trying so hard identifying the right name to fit his face. Dude, I am wea...

I have always wanted to go to Anawangin in Zambales. I have heard about the “hidden” paradise in the middle of mountain ranges, about the pine trees that grow on ashen-grey sands, the wonderful sunsets as the beach is directly facing the West Philippine Sea, and of course the crystal clear waters of Anawangin cove. And so, when such a golden opportunity of going there with fellow backpackers during my free weekend, I did not hesitate to grab it and go explore the wonders of Anawangin for myself. I even decided to cancel it hours before the trip! But I was glad I didn’t, Alhamdulillah! This is my account of that adventure. This is my Anawangin Adventure. The Team The team composed of eight adventurous backpackers coming from different walks of life living around Metro Manila. We met at this online group (meetup.com) where like-minded people meet and plan things out. This is not the first time that this group had organized a group trip around the country, but this is actually my f...

Clerkship Day 137: Anesthesiology Assalamu Alaykum (Peace be upon you all!). It’s been 5 days since our classes resumed. Actually, I prefer calling it “training” than “classes” because we don’t have much “class sessions” compared to when we were on our first three years in medschool. We are spending more time in the hospital, shadowing our doctors, trying to learn as much as we can from them. So yeah, it should be “training”. We are now training under the department of Anesthesiology and this will last for two weeks only. They told us that we are fortunate because there are only TWO medical schools in the whole country has clerkship trainings for Anesth. Cool! So it’s really best to make the most of our two weeks stay while we can.  We’ve been to Surgery last time, so we are not that “alien” to the world of the Operating Rooms. Only this time, we are not working on the OR table anymore, but at the Anesth “territory”: that small, ever-present area where the anesthesiolog...

This is an auto-publish post. I orignally wrote this letter last July 2015.  Six months since I wrote this letter, I wonder what have changed? Assalamu Alaykum wa rahmatullah! Hey dude, it’s me, your pre-clinical clerkship self a.k.a. the self that you had (hopefully will still have) before you started your death-defying ordeal called “Clerkship”. I know this is crazy, but hey, since when did we ever consider things “not crazy” huh? Perhaps, right now you’re about to begin your most challenging year in Med School. And the anxiety is killing you already—you don’t know what to expect, you feel like you know nothing at all! Don’t worry, that is exactly what you are supposed to feel. Just give it a few days and you will get used to the feeling, the pressure and slowly you will find yourself adapting to the new environment you have.  Or maybe you are already in the middle of your clerkship year: Now far more confident that you were the past years. Ge...