Filipino Doc Picks Life As Nurse in U.S.
it’s sad how we are judged by what we decide to do with our lives. even more tragic when your life becomes a national event for media and even the government to feast on… tsk, tsk, tsk.
of course it’s the government’s fault- when health care providers, doctors and nurses start running as far away as possible from the philippines, for not delivering a stable and secure environment for them to work at! when you are given a choice between suffering with a bright future in america and suffering with a bleak future in the philippines, what would you choose?!
hey, there are success stories here in america in as much as there are bad experiences, and that goes for anywhere you might be in the globe. but your bad experiences here is nothing with what you may go through back home trying to stretch your $300.00 monthly salary working in a rural area. heck, the lowest earner in america earns at least a thousand dollars a month!
i salute all those who are left behind. i’m sure you are there for your own personal reasons, selfish or not. i admire that. you are there because you have no choice or you love your family or you can’t leave your loved ones or you’re stuck at the moment, or you can’t leave just because… BUT nobody, nobody in its sound judgment would say, they chose to stay because they love the philippines! that’s crap! i challenge anyone to comment on this blog, to those left behind in the philippines- you’re not there because of nationalistic pride and patriotic love of country, are you?! ARE YOU?!! really?! which philippines do you live at? you mean that philippines?! are you out of your freakin’ mind or something?!
i rest my case.
are you kidding me? i love it here! i’m waiting around for the next elections so i can wish i’m dead because our countrymen voted for madame auring! (what do you mean she’s not running..?!!)
Im sorry if I say this, but I am compelled to…For me doctors becoming nurses is kind of embarrassing. Doctors to nurses speaks volume, its all about money. What happens to physician’s oath!!!! I thought the most important reason why you study to become a doctor is to heal the sick and save lives. What happen if all doctors leave the Philippines who will take care of the poor Filipinos? Sad to say that doctors who become nurses to work in the US are not really serious of saving lives, you should have gone to nursing school in the first place. Being a doctor is all about saving lives for crying out loud. Its a noble profession, its not a money profession.
Nicely said. It’s really hard to digest that these things are happening to our country, our beloved Philippines. I hope there will be someone who will really lead our country to a new level, the one who can raise the nation from poverty; one who will think of our health care system, what can they do about it, and think of plans to improve them. I know it’s far-fetched, but it can be attained.
thank you for you insightful view, joy. i understand where you’re coming from but i think the whole point of this article is beyond doctors becoming nurses. Elmer Jacinto just happens to be the instrument, the spark that ignites the flame. it’s a wake-up call to the philippine government! it’s meant to shake up our corrupt government officials whose oath of office is supposed to be serving the people, instead they serve themselves, fatten their wallets and live lavish and extravagant lives while millions of Filipinos are literally dying! They are to provide a solid health care delivery system for both the people and the caregivers- doctors and nurses included. without that platform, nobody will survive. being realistic here, Elmer Jacinto came from a poor, war-stricken, small town in Basilan. people die there everyday. basic comfort of electricity and water is unheard of. here you are a doctor with a family to feed and support. what kind of future do you have if you stay there and suffer with them? if the only means to save your family from starving is by going abroad, and become a nurse then by all means do that. can you feed your family your physician’s oath? i don’t think so. if one looks at the small picture, sure it’s all about the money BUT look at the bigger picture and you’ll see that it’s not. far from being just the money, it is a sacrifice that one makes for the love of his family. when it’s about survival of the fittest in this world, you have to be selfish for your family. you can’t run to the government for help, they’re useless- that we already know. you have no choice. you’re driven by fate to go and explore better future for yourself, because at the end of the day- nobody will care, help, support and love you but yourself and your family.
i’m sorry i beg to disagree with you, doctors becoming nurses IS NOT an embarrassment at all. it’s a catastoprohe if anything! it’s a desperate act of our poor doctors to SURVIVE! you said “being a doctor is all about saving lives,” BUT how can a doctor save someone’s life when his own life and his family’s need saving? should’nt we commend their bold move, for taking a stand in their life and choosing their destiny?
and why are we only keen on picking on doctors becoming nurses, heck everybody is shifting to nursing! lawyers, engineers, dentists, pharmacists, physical therapists, architects, entrepreneurs, teachers, even nuns and priests! is it ok for them to shift to nursing and not ok for doctors? all those professions are geared towards helping and saving lives directly or indirectly. let’s not be self-righteous here by saying who can’t and can shift to nursing. it all boils down to saving your own family and loved ones first. that’s the only reason why people make sacrifices like this. that’s the rule of thumb in life, isn’t not?
why are you here in the US? why am i here in the US? why is everybody here in the US and abroad? why are we enduring homesickness and other painful emotions we go through being away from our loved ones? isn’t it because we love our families and relatives back home that we want to help them have better lives? i don’t know what that means to you, but to me that sounds like a very noble thing to do…
thank you for giving your thoughts on the matter. it is a BIG issue and so many angles to view it at. the reason i posted this is because i am angry at our government for making it go this far as having a shortage of doctors and nurses back home! yet they’re not doing anything concrete. nothing at all, it’s frustrating!!
IF our government will start acting like a government for the people and by the people, if our government will not keep the money for themselves meant for the health care budget, if the government allocate more budget to help the people directly and not spend so much paying on foreign debts, if the government can provide better incentives for health care professionals to stay in the philippines, if the government can provide stability in our economy, if the government can just stop politicizing everything, if the government can stabilize insurgency problems, if the government can stop bureaucracy, if the government can lessen if not eliminate graft and corruption, if the government can have better tax laws for the people and for businesses, if the government can… but until they do, filipinos who are offered the opportunity for a better life abroad will take that chance and should grab that chance! if nursing is the ticket to a better future, then everyone should be buying or getting that ticket…
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as for you louis, yes we can only hope that someone will lead our country to a new level. the filipino people deserves a strong leader under a great governance. i agree it can be attained. let’s just hope that we’re still alive by then to see it…
thanks for stopping by. appreciate your posting.
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hey, BC. what do you mean you’re not BC?!! i know you love it there BUT i also know you can’t wait to go to the UK to be with Dennis! what do you mean you’re not going to be a nurse in england?!! madame auring predicted she won’t win in the next elections so she’s not running, instead she’s going to shift careers from being a lousy psychic to being a… what do you know?! A NURSE!!!
i’m a doctor. i love being a surgeon. i love to stay here and be one of those who will pave the way for medical tourism/medical and surgical advancement… and be an authority here. being a healer is a gift and that’s my contribution to society. the country is hopeless if you deem it as such. as long as there are contributors, that’s one less step from hopelessness, it takes two to tango, right? can’t leave it to the government all the time. medical/surgical societies have their contribution, but let’s not get there. anyway, i’m much more preoccupied with saving what’s on my table than to worry about what i can do more for the country… to each his own - i have no objections to doctors being nurses because that’s their choice, as staying here is mine. it’s not because i have no choice. i’m single, so that crosses out “can’t leave my family.” i’m stuck at the moment cause i chose to be stuck here for training. so i guess that means i’m staying because i’m patriotic then, and i’m i am quite quite quite sure i am not alone, because i see my fellow surgeons choosing to stay… i ain’t rich, by the way. so let’s just conclude that i’m one of them exceptions and leave it at that, k, baybee?
hi! wanna share this article:http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2007/03/12/YTCP2007031289263.html on a fellow la sallian who top the recent physician board exams last feb 2007.
