A tour Around Jolo, Sulu

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  Assalamu Alaykum! (Peace be with you!) I just realized... I haven't talked much about my videos about Sulu in this blog. I have a playlist which you can watch if you are interested in seeing (or maybe visiting?) my dear homeplace.  Just check it out here: JOLO, SULU PLAYLIST You can watch this instead:      Yup, that is all for today.   PS. I am mulling over the idea of transferring my blog from blogspot to wordpress...  hmmmmmm    
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A Doctor's PF



*PF = Professional fee

A patient's question that is hardest for me to answer is...

"Magkano po, doc?" (How much will I pay, doc?)

I remember back in PGH, whenever we tell them  "wala po. wala po kayong babayaran sa aming mga duktor." (Zero. You don't need to pay us anything at all). Their faces were  always left in awe and disbelief. Almost to say to us "weeeh? di ngaaa?"

But now, I am in an uncomfortable seat and I have to helplessly smile and direct them towards the nurse who in turn will lead them to the cashier. Waiving a PF is always an honorable act that we doctors would want to do. Especially to those we know are indigent and could use those money for other things like their medicine, or transportation back home. How I wish I could waive each and every PF for my patients. But I just can't. Doing it would be tantamount to suicide. Especially to young doctors who are still struggling in this messy world he just stepped in to. We are humans as well. We eat, we pay our bills, we get sick, we die.

This is real life and real talk. Yes, health and Medicine in general had been designed to be a "commodity" in this country. Those who have more will get more. And those who have less, are left with the choice of going to a government hospital and wait for hours just to be seen by a doctor... Or suffer the pain through the night. :( A sad truth we face every day. Sadly and depressingly so.

How I wish I was born in a country where I can heal a patient without them needing to ask me how much to pay. And without me looking at this job as a mere source of income, but rather as a way to serve those who need me most.

It's hard to be a doctor in this country if you think about your patients' pockets.
And it's harder to be a doctor who wouldn't.

Magkano nga ba ang serbisyo ko?
hai buhay.

The patient paid her “consultation fee” and started walking towards the exit door. And to my surprise, she looked back, smiled at me and said “Salamat dok!” (Thank you, doc)

Perhaps that is the only payment I was asking for. Something that no amount of money could ever buy.

#DoctorsPF
#MorningMusings
#HealthisaRight
#NotaCommodity

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