I STRONGLY believe that what made me an active mental health advocate is not only my passion to care for the mentally ill but also my interest in mental health research. I remember my first published research about psychiatric nurses fighting the odds with their profession. Yes, from that day on, researching became a part of my life, and it completes me.
Last November 19, 2019, I was invited to be one of the speakers to talk about mental health innovations in the first international research conference on Health Care Sciences in Davao del Norte. The said conference was organized by Tagum Doctors College and endorsed by the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) -Region XI, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Department of Education (DepEd).
I can say that this event is one of my unforgettable experiences as a speaker because I came to meet great researchers from Singapore, Thailand, India and here in the Philippines. It was nice to speak to humble but great researchers having several published studies like Dr. Erwin M. Faller, Dr. Nasser A. Jawadil, Dr. Titinum Auamnoy, Dr. Erica Davillo, Dr. Mayuree H. Tantisira and Dr. Eugene T. Macalinga.
Indeed, the three-day international conference with the theme “Transformative research towards collaborative health outcome” has given the health professionals and students in the field of pharmacy, nursing, radiologic technology and medical lab sciences opportunity to share their researches. As Dr. Anthony Sales -Region XI Director of DOST said - “This research conference is timely, as it aims at fostering collaboration to ensure health research outputs contributing to address the country’s health problem”.
And truly, I must say this, that if there is no passion for research, there will be no doors in finding something new. If there is no dedication to research, there will be no fruits in finding the truth. And if there is bias in research findings, it will be harder for it to be respected. So, it is essential to conduct research with passion, dedication and without bias. Only then will researchers feel truly the fruits of their discoveries. And only then can it transform peoples’ lives.