USMLE: MY TICKET OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES

Before entering med school, quite a number of people had nothing but discouraging words. “You’ll go through a lot of hard times,” they say, before I reach success should I pursue a career in medicine. I still got in… idealistic fool.

I never really thought of using my medical career to profit anyway. I never really thought of getting rich by being a doctor. I wanted to make this my vocation and not merely a profession. But this is just ridiculous.

It’s only now that I get what they were trying to say.

I spent 4 years in premed and then another 5 years for medicine proper, graduated with honors plus some more academic accolades. All those years of hardwork, sweat, tears and yes, even blood…

A medical resident is currently paid somewhere between P8,000-P15,000 (about $160-$300) per month here in the Philippines.

Wish I had gone into Information Technology or some other computer course where my brains could have produced more tangible results, at least monetarywise. But I became a doctor.

I never thought that I would regret being a physician.

It’s worthwhile and even emotionally rewarding to help relieve someone’s aches or get rid of one’s disease but at the end of the day, who’s there to take care of doctors. What about my own aches?

And so, the decision has been made. I have to get out of the Philippines and bring my medicine elsewhere - where it may be better appreciated. I have to go out before my regret becomes complete.