MOST parents who are able to let their children finish formal education carry that sense of accomplishment with their role as providers. It would be more satisfying if a son or daughter has acquired a professional license like that of a medical doctor. But almost all families with a member who is a physician would agree that finishing medical school is not a walk in the park.
Medical students would sacrifice years of schooling and training without pay, while their friends during college days already enjoy receiving pay checks from their first employment. The med student would even trade dinner for some sleep at times. They would miss family gatherings and reunions in order to keep up with their duties.
And let’s not forget the skyrocketing tuition fees, those gigantic and heavy medical books, and other expensive medical equipment each med student is required to have. After the grueling clerkship and graduation, they would have just reached half the battle. Med school graduates who review for boards are like grizzly bears in hibernation -- they must not get distracted during that period. And after passing the board, they can opt to spend another couple of years or more for their chosen residency training. And it does not end there.
While some of their batchmates have already been promoted to managerial levels, they are still trying to survive specialized training. The return of investment really varies and some parents are beginning to wonder if pushing their kids to become doctors is still a wise move.
It is important for every healthcare provider to have compassion but remember that they also have their own family to take care of.
When a doctor makes rounds in a government hospital, it is usually not done only once a week. It usually takes around three to seven days, depending on the status of the patient in admission. If a patient requests to avail for private service, that means the patient or his/her family is agreeing to pay for the services rendered by the attending physician.
The problem normally starts when the patient on discharge calls for help to a kumpare or a kumare who is a politician. Unfortunately, there are patients who agree to everything during the course of the treatment and when it is time to settle the bill, they would search for a politician.
And when the politician gets the call, some even have the audacity to call the hospital admin and push them to find a way to scrap the professional fee of the doctor. A hospital staff would then call the attending physician who just spent four to seven days travelling to heal the patient just to be informed that a certain politician asked to waive the doctor’s fee or just make a discount. Most politicians would not even ask the doctor personally.
And if the doctor says OK, the credit still goes to that politician as he gets the praises from the discharged patient -- a hero who did nothing but take away the effort and the professional fee of the medical consultant.
If these elected officials really want to help the patients, they should be the one to shoulder the doctor’s fee instead of pressuring the hospital admin to call their private doctors for a no charge.
The doctor needs to feed his/her family too.
***
Jose “Kuya Jay” Pelayo IV is the president of Metro Angeles City Journalists Association Inc. and the president of Pampanga-Tarlac Energy Press Corps. For comments and suggestions, e-mail at 4th.pelayo@gmail.com