Joey M.D.

Being a doctor was never easy. Along the way were different choices that had to be made. Looking back, I realize that Somebody Up There was always pushing me to make the best choices, because sometimes even if seemed difficult to make a decision, there was always some tipping point that would ultimately make the final decision.

Story #1

I never wavered in my childhood ambition to be a doctor. It was more than a slumbook entry, and it was never a “doctor or something else”– it was ALWAYS a doctor. So when the college entrance exams came along, I knew that I wanted to take up a course that was considered pre-med, in a school that offered Medicine. The only schools I knew that offered medicine were UP, UST, FEU and UE. I took the UPCAT, checked the box asking if I wanted to be considered for INTARMED, and put in Diliman as my first choice, with BS Biology and BS Psychology as the choices for courses. I took the UST exam for BS Med Tech. I didn’t know how it is now, but in UST then, you had to take a different exam if you want to be considered for another course. So I took another exam for BS Biology.

The outcome: I passed the UPCAT and got in my first choice of campus BUT didn’t get into either Biology or Psychology. I didn’t know that I could just pick any non-quota course then shift later. I also passed the UST BS Med Tech entrance exam. Since people were saying that Med Tech was better as a pre-med course, this is what I enrolled in. It helped that Med Tech sounded, more….medical. I told you, I was fixated on being a doctor. The UST BS Biology exam? I didn’t bother to see if I passed, since I already enrolled in Med Tech.

The final outcome: I loved college, and I loved my course. I found that I am better in the Chemistry and Med Tech subjects than I was with Bio subjects, way better! And of course, it gave a little edge in second year med, when subjects like Parasitology, Microbiology and other “laboratory” subjects were tackled. It really was the best choice for me. I would have sucked in BS Biology or BS Psychology.

Oh, and UST is much nearer my home too.

Story #2

I went on to UST Medicine. During clerkship, we gave our choices of hospitals where we want to have our internship (The Match). My first choice was Cardinal Santos Medical Center (nearer my home) and my second was St. Luke’s Medical Center. I don’t know how the match is done, but I was matched with St. Luke’s Medical Center. It turned out to be a good choice, because St. Luke’s is one of the hospitals with the most modern equipment and facilities and it was a nice change from the charity ward setting. Here, we can use the most modern lifesaving equipment, the best and latest antibiotics and the latest techniques. I loved my stay there.

Story #3

When I was applying for residency training, I had to apply to as many hospitals as I could since slots for ophthalmology residents were limited. The competition then was fierce! I applied to 6 different hospitals! I got interviewed in 5 of the 6 and eventually got a pre-residency slot in 2 — The Medical City and Manila Doctors Hospital. The catch — pre-residency for both hospitals occurs at the same time. I had to make a choice even if I didn’t know yet how it is with both hospitals. I made the practical choice — MDH — because they are going to accept 3 residents out of the 4 preresidents. TMC was only accepting 2 residents out of 4. Morever, MDH already had practicing graduates. TMC’s first batch of Ophthalmology graduates were just going to graduate and haven’t taken the Ophtha boards and haven’t practiced yet, at that time. So, to my mind, MDH had more pluses going for me, so I chose MDH.

I eventually had my residency there.

I met my future husband in the same residency program.

Fate? Maybe. If I had gone to the other hospital, I might not have known him the way I did and we probably wouldn’t be together right now…and my Ethan would not have been born. I shudder to think of it that way.

I still have a lot of life changing decision stories, but I’d like to think that sometimes, the choices we make are actually not as difficult as we think it is. Because the better choice is sometimes so glaring that we really would make one choice over another. And it in the end, it does turn out to be the better choice.