When a Doctor Becomes a Nurse
It is a tragedy of the medical profession in the Philippines. Doctors, trained and board-certified, seek greener pastures elsewhere, not as physicians but as nurses. They go where the jobs are and forego what they have dreamed of for so long and worked so hard to accomplish.
Lately, this story has been given a face. Elmer Jacinto. He was first thrust into the limelight when he topped the medical board exams. Then he joined others before him who found employment in foreign hospitals. And that’s when he became controversial.
Doctors leave because of political unrest and economic malaise, but money is a major factor. A nurse in the Philippines makes $150 to $250 a month; doctors make $300 to $800. But the average registered nurse in the U.S. earns $4,000 a month. Is it any wonder a doctor might leave?
The decision, though, remains intensely personal and sometimes embarrassing, and as an issue, it had generated limited attention — that is, until Jacinto made his choice and set out to explain himself to a nation of 84 million people.
He was called the “doctor-topnotcher” who “ignored the nation’s interests for his own”. One Philippine newspaper said he had “deplorable ambition”.
Can we really blame him for his choice to better provide for his family? Where is the line to be drawn? On one side, there is the citizen who must decide between country and employment. On the other is the government that is called upon to provide what the people need. Patriotism is not just the citizen’s call, but the elected officials as well.
The Philippines needs its doctors (and nurses, engineers, scientists and teachers) to stay in the country. But these professionals need jobs and, not just jobs, but jobs that can support their families. Government officials need to get their acts together and do their jobs with honesty and integrity. Otherwise, they cannot expect ordinary citizens to sacrifice quality of life and the well-being of their families.
Perhaps the primary good that came of Elmer Jacinto’s decision is that the issue is now at the forefront of discussions both in medical institutions and in the government. For now, after a rough start in New York, he is said to be finding a place for himself and “a sense of peace”.
[Source: Inquirer.net]
Tags: Filipino doctors, Filipino nurses
3 Comments
“You gotta do what you have to do!”
I remember a friends father who was a local doctor in their province. There was always tinolang manok, chicken adobo and chicken inihaw and lots of vegetables and Milagrosa rice ready on their long dining table for guests to feast on when you come to their house. I asked why and his mom said: “Ay naku yan ang mga binabayad sa mister ko ng mga pasyente niya rito!, manok, gulay at bigas kadalasan!”
Also, imagine the cost of a medicine degree in the Philippines! I bet some of our local graduates and practicing doctors wants to pay back some of the tuition money they spent on their education. Consider also the opportunity they will have as soon as they leave the country to eventually have the chance to pass a state doctor’s board exam in their new home abroad.
Doctor to Nurse, Nurse to Doctor..It’s still a job and it pays well.
i hate that many Filipinos have to make choice, our family included. but the bottom line for me is this: everyone has to decide what their priorities are. in our family it’s God, then family, then country. we have a deep love for our motherland, but we have to/choose to put our family first.
and i know there are pinoys that ARE successful and able to provide adequately for their family sa pilipinas. (hopefully their kids will be just as fortunate.) but so many more wouldn’t be able to, were it not for those foreign currencies coming in through a job, often found on distant shores. we have to endure separation, loss of heritage, etc. but the phil. government and economy sadly don’t give people much of a choice, do they?
stef and NoyPetes – I completely agree with you. There is really no straight-cut answer to this problem. I mean, there is almost no reason to leave the Philippines for some place greener if we are able to provide for our families well enough. Sadly, that’s not often the case. It’s not just nurses/doctors or teachers too. The Philippines has had to deal with this when engineers went to Saudi to work, or even to Hongkong to be domestic helpers. I’ve heard this said of me, in particular, of fellow Philippine scientists I meet at conferences who ask me why I don’t go back to the country to teach what I’ve learned in US schools; that I’m more needed there than I am here… I really don’t know what to say to those things. It was my choice to leave, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love the Philippines any less for leaving… and then they tell me “if everyone who has left returns, then the Philippine would be better off economically” to which I something think – if we all return and there are no jobs for us, the whole country will go downhill fast. but, I see their point and where they are coming from, and we all wish things were different than what the reality is today. nakakalungkot but you do have to do what’s best.