The becoming of a doctor is a neverending series of first steps. Here is another one.
This post features some of the things I was up to last November, from pre-residency at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) to a couple of “social rounds” with oft-missed friends.
s/p 10 days of pre-residency
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 10?
Over the last few years of medical school, I always answered with a vision of working in health policy while maintaining a family practice on some weekdays. It’s a dream that starts here. Maybe, hopefully.
(Read: conversations on rough terrain and my old projects highlighting the intersectionality of health: FSL Sign Language Week and Anastomosis 2018)
When I say “family and community medicine”, most people would answer with “what’s that?”. It’s not surprising. In an increasingly specialized world, generalists and jack-of-all-trades have become both rarer and yet paradoxically less valued. The big bucks won’t be found in this specialty, but big changes hopefully will.
Our position description officially says DFCM seeks to hone trainees with a more wholistic perspective in the care of patients, families, and even communities. From womb to tomb.
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I can’t remember the last time I was an “on-duty” intern. It feels like I spent the entirety of 2021 studying for board exams and watching online lectures, though I know that’s not true.
It’s hard to shake off that rust and regain the confidence needed when talking to patients, even and especially when it’s via teleconsultation. I feel like an intern with a PRC license (that’s exactly what I am). I can only trust that the next few months will sharpen our so-called clinical eye.
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(Before I was a pre-res, I was an internal medicine clerk being guided by intern Doc Mikas in Ospital ng Makati! How time flies, from 2019 to now: Reporting for Duty)
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i keep coming back to manila
I was born in the presidential suite of the Philippine General Hospital*. Then I spent 95% of my formative years along the busy roads and sketchy neighborhoods of Taft, from St. Scholastica’s College along Leon Guinto to the questionable sanitation and engineering controls of the UP Manila campus for college.
I love Ortigas, and I love everything it aspires to be. It was in Pasig where I discovered it’s possible to walk freely from place to place (without fearing for your life). It was in Pasig I learned it’s possible to have bike lanes and no-car roads on weekends. Neighborhood markets and community zumba sessions can actually exist.
But it’s Manila I keep coming back to.
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*TMI. My mom likes to bring up this fact whenever it’s even vaguely relevant; we only got that chance two decades ago because my maternal aunt, Tita Mina, worked as a nurse in PGH.
and a couple of social and adulting rounds
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In other news, I downloaded TikTok so I could better chat and share BTS content with my sister (who would have thought!). The auto-sync feature makes it so easy to sync and edit clips together:
There are a couple of photos and videos missing from this blog post: my (lonesome and tedious) online oathtaking under PRC last Nov 18, followed by a celebratory slash birthday lunch with David and Faye at Ogetsu SM Aura, then followed by a small party at David’s place the night after. I also had to look for a condominium and figure out my employment requirements the next week.
It was a very busy couple of days.
Until next time!
❤️
P.S. This has been a scheduled post. Hope you have a good weekend!
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jari m 