Hindi lang pala pasyente...

When I was hospitalized due to the formation of gall stones in my gall bladder, I felt a mixture of fear and pain. I felt fear because I really don't know what will happen to me, besides the fact that I fear of paying a very large amount for the combined fees of my specialists, medications and room. Thank God I am protected by our company's HMO (though I am a bit dismayed in their service - but that's another story). So I was confined, had an operation, recovered and finally had the go signal to go home after 1 week stay. The HMO covered at least 70% of all the bill while the rest is by the most common way of finding legal and ethical financial fund - utang. UTANG NA!

Php 65,000 is all I have to cash out. I have no other option but to have a loan to my Ate Mau and Kuya A (They looked like cherubims to me that night). I have to wait for 5 days more for my salary's ETA in my ATM (which was zero balance that time). But even if it was payday, I will still not able to pay that amount. The sweet couple was such a miracle for me. They settled the amount and sent me home.

So time for me now to plan for debt reduction. First step was to check the hospital's statement of account if I was double billed or if their are any other doubtful fees that were billed to me. But I could not find any except for one, I was billed for a certain Dr. Reyes for his professional fee.

"Putang na, sino to?" I asked my Ate Do, who was my official hospital watcher eversince. Neither of us couldn't tell which doctor was that Dr. Reyes or which professional service we acquired from him. We checked all laboratory reports, but none of the requesting physician is Dr. Reyes.

"Baka residente to?" I asked my Ate again.
"Hinde," she confidently answered me. "sila (resident doctors) ang nagbabayad sa ospital!"

Watdapak!

"Hindi sila pinapasahod ng ospital?" I asked again with wide open eyes.
"Hinde. Sila ang nagbabayad sa ospital. Nagbabayad sila para makapag-practice sila..." she explained. Upon seeing my startled ignorant face like a child waiting for a Mother Goose fairy tale, she explained to me further the system of becoming a medical professional. Ganito daw yun...

After graduation of the medical student, he should take a medical professional board exam. If he passed the board exam, he is already a doctor - a general practitioner (no specializations). At this stage, he is qualified to give prescription, set up a clinic, give consultation and of course give medication. But he is not affiliated to any hospitals, clinics or any medical institutions. Therefore, less patients, less opportunities of advancement, growth and learning - less money. For that reason, the general practitioner should fit himself in the system of hospital business. He should find a specialization and pay a certain amount to the hospital where he wants to practice that specialization. At this stage, the general practitioner is a resident of that hospital. Could you imagine a worker paying his employer?

"Kelangan niyang gawin yun kasi may mga required number of hours bago ka maging espesyalista. At kung magkamali ang residente, yung attending physician ng pasyente ang mananagot sa lahat. Siya (attending physician) pa ang magbabayad ng hospital bills ng pasyente niya." explained my Ate who was a hospital pharmacist before becoming a new age alchemist.

Those exchange of dialogues happened in the next morning while having our breakfast. I trusted my Ate's lecture about the existing system of medical career ladder because of her experience in the hospital industry. She did even cite the story of Dr. Vicky Belo, the famous showbiz doctor, who was affiliated with a hospital. If she was affiliated, thus she also experienced the system of paying the hospital before becoming a derma specialist. Now she detached herself and created her own empire of derma clinics and products.

My Ate also cited the story of our family friends, a doctor couple who were so blessed now and earning not as doctors but as entrepreneurs and owners of a culinary school. They also had specializations and were attached with hospitals before they became school owners. They were so blessed with their business that they even have to volunteer as doctors in other countries just to exercise their medical profession.

That same morning, after my Ate's storytelling, there was a spur of thoughts in my mind. Dati kasi mababa talaga ang tingin ko sa mga residente. Now, I see them as heroic as my specialists are. Imagine after spending too much money in a medical school, too much hardwork and perspiration for a medical license, you still have to pay for a specialization. Hindi lang pala pasyente ang nagbabayad sa ospital. And to think I have more resident doctors visiting me than my attending physician.

Residenteng doktor ang nagturok sa akin ng I.V. (kahit na sumirit yung dugo ko dahil sa kanya, salamat pa din ako). Residenteng doktor ang pumipisilpisil sa nanakit kong tiyan at nagtanong kung gaano kasakit ang nararamdaman ko. Residenteng doktor ang humawak ng putotoy ko at sumalo ng wiwi ko nung nilagyan ako ng catheter. Residenteng doktor din ang nagtanggal ng tubo sa tiyan ko (na pagkasakit-sakit!) at naglinis ng sugat ko.

But there is more to this realization. Basta doktor ka, pagkatakot-takot na gastos, pawis at pagod din ang dinanas mo. Therefore, it doesn't matter if you are a resident doctor or not because doctors are sworn to be of service with dedication to their patients and not to the hospital or institution. Kaya kaawa-awa din ang mga doktor lalo na ang mga nadedestino sa mga lugar na hindi ligtas. Merong nakikidnap, nahoholdap at meron ding napapatay. Kaya kung sino ka mang doktor, saludo ako sa iyo!

But that doesn't mean that I will stop my hunt for that certain Dr. Reyes and why I was billed for his supposed service. I still have to cut my debt.

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