Just last week I decided that I would go for medical school since I really cannot see myself as a nurse. I cannot imagine myself taking orders from doctors or performing mundane charting or vital signs taking. I figured that if I eventually pursued Medicine (which was initially the reason why I got into a health-related course) I would reward myself with prestige and at least a decent salary– which should come close to being a nurse abroad if I work really hard enough.

A few hours ago I searched about NMAT and the admission requirements of different medical schools in Metro Manila. I browsed upon a website, pinoy.md, which tackles a lot of topics from getting into med school, internship, and actual practice. I must say I got disillusioned from the comments and postings that I read because most of them, practicing MDs and med students, made apparent why being a doctor is not a glitzy and money-churning job five-year-olds imagine it to be.

For starters, there is NMAT which one must hurdle to get through the gates of medicine education. Although I have long known that NMAT is prerequisite to getting into medical school, I have always thought that it was a piece of cake, which was why UP was requiring a minimum score of 90. But after reading several posts, I learned thast some people get a grade as low as five. Not that I’m discouraged of taking NMAT because of this, but I think I might have weighed NMAT non discriminately more on the easy side.

There are also those in the haywire if they should go on pursuing medicine, mostly composed of Nursing or ‘pre med’ students nearing graduation. Most are in a limbo considering how expensive it is to take medicine in the Philippines, especially in private institutions. Besides the expenses, one has to consider the time it would take to finish the course, go into residency, and the perpetual study it would take to constantly update yourself with developments in the field.

From my short research, I learned that the average tuition for a well known private medical school would range around 70-90 thousand++ per semester, not including expenses for books, daily baon and other whatnots of going through medical school. Doing rough math, an average student would spend at least a million pesos before he graduates– not unless he is lucky, intelligent, or well connected enough to go to UP College of Medicine, or PLM. Or perhaps diligent enough to maintain a scholarship throughout his education.

Everybody also knows that Medicine is not a walk in the park. I thought, however, that after 5 years of med school you could somehow present yourself as a dignified doctor commanding everybody’s respect in the hospital. But as the old Filipino adage goes: Marami ka pang bigas na kakainin. After nine years (pre med, med proper and internship combined) you will still have to spend a year or two on hospital residency and a couple years more to be a specialist.

Of course time and money goes hand in hand. Many of the contributors have reiterated the fact that a med student has to contend with the situation where his former classmates are getting on highly paid jobs, building careers and doing ‘fun stuff’ while he is still school, digging out cadavers and enduring 36 hours duty. Also, since studying Medicine would require a great deal of focus, money-making opportunities would be limited, which will thus require a 20 something to rely on his parents’ support– maybe even after he graduates, until he is starting to build his career going on 30 something.

And even if one is done with residency, an ordinary doctor’s salary would not match a nurse working an extended overtime in the US or other foreign country. I remember my Lola’s doctor remarking when she went for follow up check up in the Phils. after returning from the States, “Ang mahal ng doctor dun nuh, dito five hundred lang…kaya yung iba nag papa check up muna bago umalis,” she said while jokingly threatening to raise the subida (consultation fee).

But the bottomline is, if you want to be a doctor, and your motivation is not for the prestige of being called ‘Doc’, by all means pursue Medicine. After all, being a doctor is a noble and sacred profession. Another plus factor would be financial stability that could see you through five years of Medicine, one or two years of residency and another few more years for specialization. As for me, I think I need to set my priorities straight first. I learned that it is not as easy as getting bored with reviewing for the Nurse’s Licensure and deciding to become a doctor. Although my parents have expressed their support when I told them I would take up medicine, I could almost feel the dread and worry in their voices. Medicine is neither an easy course nor an inexpensive one. I think I may have had the wrong motivations in choosing to pursue this course. I think I would spare my parents the risk of sending an ambivalent daughter to an expensive medical school. Who knows, I might be more sure of what I want after a few years in real life. I believe that even after years of chasing paper bills, my soul would eventually lead itself to where it will find happiness.

 

October 22nd, 2008 by Aubrey An FEU alumni waiting to be awed by the not-so-usual and even mundane twists of life.