Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Aging Patients

I have been in private medical practice for 15 years. I finished my specialty training in Internal Medicine in 1995. The patients I met during my early practice in their 60s then are now nearing their 80s, the age that many patients succumb to death. Last month, an 81 year old patient died, partly because of old age.

Being my patients for 10, 15 years, they are like family to me. I don't only know their names but I recognize their voices as well. They have shared their happiness and sorrows, their successes and frustrations. These make it harder to let them go.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Back to Blogging

After 5 months of absence, I’m back to blogging again. Let me share my experiences as a physician. Know what I do, what I think and how I feel. Being a doctor is not just a work or job. It is a vocation... it is a way of life.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

One Out Of Two

The long wait was over. Though I did not receive a call from PAFP, a friend informed me that the results of the exams were out. They informed only those who will be conferred Diplomate today, February 17. I was not among them… I passed only the written part. Better than my friend who did not pass any of the two. Out of the more than 450 who took the written part and 300 for the oral part, 121 made it. For my friend, it was over. For me, I will try again next time.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Cell phone: Not Just for Voice and Text Communications

I thought that cellular phone (cell phone) are just for voice and text communications until I met Andres (not his real name). Andres was brought to the hospital for abdominal pain. He is a special patient because he is deft-mute. I can only understand him through his relatives who interpret his sign language.

One time when I made my rounds, only his wife was with him. The first she did was hand me her cell phone. She is also deft-mute. Written in text message was how Andres feels. So, I wrote my questions and explanations in my phone. Now I look at cell phone in another way, not justfor voice and text messages, but also a writing pad that we carry everyday.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Back To Normal

My exams were finished 2 weeks ago. Everything is back to normal. I am seeing my admitted and clinic patients again, updated the websites and blogs I maintain, assisted my wife in home schooling our son and helped around the house.

There are still those who will take the oral exams on February 7. Results will be out probably on the second week of February before the Philippines Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) annual convention on February 18-20, 2010. 

I hope that I will pass. By then I can say that everything is back to normal.