ask the arbularyo

A Very Happy New Year to All!

2008-12-31T07:39:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I'm an optimist. Despite all the grim predictions for the upcoming year, I still have hope that this will be a blessed 2009.

So to everyone in the blogosphere:

A very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Another day in paradise

2007-09-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

As another of toil winds down, we find ourselves in the start of another classday. We're still smiling so it can be presumed that the professor is not yet here hehehe

An unexpected blessing

2007-08-18T04:17:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been an unexpected blessing as far as school is concerned. It's like a sem break in the middle of the semester. a chance to get caught up in the readings as well as to recover from life's traumas.

I know that among many of our people there has been suffering and calling the storms a blessing is more than a trifle crass but hey I'm a student and anything that gets me a few days to read in a relatively tension free environment is a blessing.

On another front, I have to say watching Bourne Ultimatum a few days ago with a few close friends have really been a boost to my semi-depressed self. There's nothing like a good action movie that gets me in the right frame of mind to continuing the war against academic doom. Jason Bourne Rocks!

Technology and society

2007-08-08T23:09:00.000-07:00

The enemy most dangerous is the one whom you can't see.

This fact is true in love and in war. Hence America's defense establishment's fascination with anything stealth.

In truth, warfare has been changed a lot in the last 100 years due to technological developments as well as the increased capacity of the human race for atrocity. Since I'm far from qualified from commenting on either topic, I'll comment on both.

Technology, in and of itself is neither bad nor good. It is like a sword in ancient times, dependent upon the wielder's intent. So in reality, warfare in the last 100 years has changed a lot due to the human race's capacity for atrocity.

Now this statement will undoubtedly elicit a great reaction because many of us believe that we have evolved as a species.

But let's face it folks, the more things change, the more that they stay the same. In the olden days, we have men bashing other mens brains in with maces and axes. In these days we have the same men bashing in the homes of many communities with smart bombs and tank rounds. any difference except for the scale of the slaughter?

I say not really!

In the olden days, women and children are treated as property. These days, women and children are sold by their parents to prostitution rings and to men of scrupulous character. They birth them so that they may elevate their lot in life is the thinking in many third world and even up to first world societies. Is this any different from marrying someone for their dowries?

I think not!

So I say again, The more things change, the more they stay the same....

life's little surprises

2007-07-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

I remember a song which said that in your youth, every little problem will feel like the world is ending. While life's real problems will jump out at you during some quiet tuesday.

Little did i know that I would experience this quite so quickly after hearing the song again after a few years.

In an ideal world, people will mind their own business. People will be tolerant and won't lash out at you just because you chose another over them. People won't jump to conclusions and impose their own value systems upon you.

Too bad this world is far from ideal. Take what happened to a friend of mine who started out this pessimistic anti marriage kinda guy and suddenly fell for a sweet girl who as God would have it fell for him as well. In an ideal world, people will be happy for them.

In this world, people would probably think that they would last only a short time, say stupid comments about how they look together, say that they're not right for each other and all that kind of pessimistic junk.

It's a good thing that despite their detractors, they continued to love each other. I say to all those a-holes out their that started doubting them "Nuts to you!"

payback

2007-07-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Everytime you feel a little safe, be very afraid.

This is the sentiment that i could get from my classmates in our class last tuesday. Everyone thought that being absent for the horribly long provision recitation was a good idea at the time. Little did we know that it would reopen the days of the inquisition.

Well what can I say but paybacks a bitch...

In the words of my professor...

2007-07-06T02:15:00.000-07:00

Isn't it ironic that in the movies, professors are portrayed as kindly old men reaching out to give dollups of wisdom?

Whoever thought up that little stereotype obviolusly never had to undergo the vagaries of law school. In truth the professors are old men but I think they left the kindly part at home. This semester have introduced another batch of wonderful (i'm told that's how you'll describe them as soon as you finish their courses) old wise men intent on slamming wisdom down our collective throats. They are the best in their fields and as such they are even more forceful and knowledgeable in their slamming methodology.

So far I have learned that "you can remember my cursing or you can remember my lesson" (It's much more hair raising in Tagalog)

"I only give instructions once. Unless of course you're morons. So let me repeat..."

And the quest for truth, justice, and whatever goes on...

life or something like it...

2007-07-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

well well!

I am pleasantly surprised that despite months of neglect, my blog site is still up and around.

Life is a strange mix of the weird and really annoying. Where sometimes doing the right thing is punished and doing the wrong thing is applauded. Take the example of the doctor who forsakes the life abroad only to be ridiculed as being stupid or the man who helps a roadside accident victim only to be arrested as the perpetrator.

Doesn't it make you just want to scream sometimes!

Recently, I had an occasion to read an article about why doctors are leaving the country for greener pastures abroad. It goes on to list the reasons that me and my friends have been talking about oh so many years ago while we were still in med school. While it's sad to see that the more that things change, the more they stay the same, it dawned on me that maybe the phenomenon of migration is more a problem of perspective than anything else.

Many of our professionals (not just medical mind you) see only the corruption and never ending strife that is ever prevalent in Philippine society. Coupled with the slap dash approach our government takes in addressing these issues, I say who can blame them for wanting to leave this "hell hole" of a country. This is further aggravated by the very small amount of money that they are able to earn which in turn gives rise to the daily battle with the household budget.

Let's face it. Who wants a life wherein day in day out you have to think about where your next meal is gonna come from or in the middle class perspective, where you're gonna get the money to pay off your credit card debt. I, for one, always dream of the day when I would have unlimited amount of money so that I could pursue my interests without regard for the vagaries of daily life.

But honestly, does this day ever really come? From the stories my parents used to tell me, it appears that the moment that you have gotten a respectable amount of money, you end craving more. And since our world is consumption driven, then we have just created a reality wherein we will never be happy. We will forever be looking for the elusive utopia which allows for unlimited consumption.

Therefore, the real hell is whereever we want it to be. Wouldn't it be ironic if the moment you get abroad and get the much dream about money that you're gonna make, you lose your spouse to infidelity or you realize that $80,000 a year only sounds like a lot if you're living in the hell hole of a country called the Philippines. Or that you make all this amount of cash by working 6 days a week only to never enjoy it coz you reserve Sundays for chores.

These statements though are not to discourage all those wonderful souls who wish to better their lot in life by moving out of this country. I just want to air out that other side of the argument that's often lost in the talk of how much I'm gonna earn once I'm over there. Coz, let's face it, the moment you get over there, you'll learn to live a life concommitant to your income and in the end, your friends in the hell hole might be living much more fulfilling lives than you.

Moments of obssession...

2007-04-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched a series of dvds to the wee hours of the morning instead of doing what you're supposed to be doing that evening?

Last night, I watched the third season of grey's anatomy for 6 straight hours. This after reading only a few pages of sales. Tonight I gotta finish this or I will never get to reading my sales finals.

It's a good thing this dvds didn't exist during med school. I would've died an academic death for sure.

The night of living dead

2007-02-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

From duty...

To most nonmedical personnel, this is just two words with very little meaning when used together. At best, they think what I used to think when I was in 2nd year med school, that one just came from the hospital.

However, in the medical world, these two words evoke emotions that span the gamut of relief to downright rage. Relief that another 24 hours duty has passed and you didn't visit hell during that duty. Rage that your duty just keeps on going and going and going...despite being from duty status.

Last night was an example of a brief trip to hell. The duty started innocently enough during the morning hours with just the usual mix of nutcases and real ER cases. But once twilight came, the trip started. Patients started coming in ignoring the all important message of the surgeon general to not drink and drive.

The first case was a father, having his son as a passenger, crashing their scooter into a parked truck. And of course being the macho man that he was, he didn't wear his helmet. Once brought to the ER, he kept asking where he was. When I told him he was in the hospital and geve him the name of the municipality, he couldn't even remember the municipality despite his being a resident there. The sad part was that the guy escaping with a few lacerations while the entire arm of his son being covered with deep abrasions.

This was followed by another guy who decided to get on his motor bike despite being falling down drunk. The truly ironic part is that his brother who wasn't as drunk deciding to join him on his joy ride. Sadly, the joy ride ended in his hitting a guardrail on the bridge and him flying through the air to the mass of metal near the bridge. While this was happening, a lot of people came over not to help the poor sod but to rob him. Good thing a good samaritan tricycle driver decided to bring him and his brother to the ER. When they got there, parts of his brain were already oozing out of his skull fractures and he was already dead on arrival.

The brother on the other hand escaped with a few lacerations but had to be treated outside the ER because he didn't want to be in the room where his brother was pronounced.

This was followed by another drunken driver incident only this time it was the victim that was the patient. The poor guy just going to church when this trio of drunks decided to take the scooter out for a spin. End result, they slammed their beloved vehicle on the tricycle of the churchgoer rendering him unconscious and his wife badly shaken up. The only good thing about the whole thing is that both of them are alive although still under observation to see if any brain damage occurred.

Of course, in between these gruesome cases were still some of the usual ER cases like asthma and the like.

It is a a good thing that morning came and the night ended. From duty at last!

first blog of the new year

2007-01-19T03:52:00.000-08:00

Hehehe!

I seemed to have forgotten that I had a blog. It's just been so busy lately that everything is going haywire. I thought that I was gonna have a less harried 2007 but it seems that it's more toxic than usual.

Well at least there's something being accomplished!

Happy New year Blog World!

At Last Christmas Vacation...

2006-12-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

This has been a very trying year for me.

Many things did not go according to plan. Many plans did not even push through. And I am looking forward to the conclusion of year 2006. Good bye old year and welcome a brand new year full of promise and hope.

Now, I am not one who really believes in the New Year, New beginning philosophy in life but this time I just might make an exception. Heck, I am even starting to believe the Chinese horoscope that my friends have been mouthing for the last year, that "this year was not a good luck year for dragons".

Although there have been a some improvements and achievements this last 12 months, it always pale with the death of my Dad last May. I thought I had recovered but there really is some truth to the saying that it's always a little worse in December.

I often believe that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Then I hope that the coming year has made me tougher than this one.

And the storm rages on...

2006-11-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

It's a good thing that Typhoon Reming missed Metro Manila. Coz then we wouldn't be able to enjoy the holiday. :-)

But be that as it may, I sure hope that the rest of the country fares as well. One of my friends was in a superferry when the typhoon hit. She described the experience as quite exhilirating. hehehe. Just shows how tough that little lady is.

Tuition Fee Increase

2006-11-27T18:34:00.000-08:00

Recently, I received a txt from my classmate on what my stand on the proposed tuition fee increase is. As an immediate responce, I told her that I was against it. But thinking about it more, I wanna reverse my original position.

The reason for the initial stand was purely selfish. I still have a little sister who was going to college and I didn't want to have to shell out megabucks for her tuition. However, I began thinking why UP was such a great school to go to and I realized that if we didn't have the increase, we might compromise the quality of education that our younger generations will be receiving. As it is, we have lost a lot of our better professors to other, better paying universities. We have to face the fact that waiving the flag of nationalism in their face just doesn't cut it anymore. They have families to support and as is proper, they want their families to have a better life as well.

We also have to keep up with the advances in teaching science. We can't allow ourselves to lag behind the rest of the world in education. (although we already are) The edge that our citizens have in getting jobs here and abroad is our quality education and we have steadily lagged behind in this field such that the advantage we had over our ASEAN neighbors in the middle 20th century have all but vanished.

So as much as it hurts me and my wallet to say it, I have to agree to the increase in tuition.

On waiting for grades

2006-11-03T01:17:00.000-08:00

One would think that the advent of technology would ease the burden of waiting for grades. However, it seems that the advent of the internet and crs has made the waiting more unbearable. It would appear that the ability to check on the availability of your grades has increased the stress level of students.

It used to be that you get your grades in small slips of paper several weeks after the end of class but now for the price of an internet connection, you could log on everyday and drive yourself absolutely crazy.

Ohhh!!! the price of modern technology. think of it...stress on demand...

It's a wonderful world.

The Nursing Paradox.

2006-11-01T02:37:00.000-08:00

During this day, I have been asked this question more than just several times.

"Why are Doctors going over to the nursing profession?"

I begin my answer to this question with a disclaimer. These are just my thoughts on the matter. It is not my intention to act as a spokesperson for the medical profession.

That said, let us begin with a story.

Lucy is a wonderful woman of about 40 years. She is a loving wife and a caring mother who lives in a middle class neighborhood and a middle class life. She possesses a college education from a respectable university and is well read and well opinioned on current events surrounding the country.

For the last couple of months, Lucy has been disturbed by the op-eds and news articles coming out about the exodus of our medical professionals. She can't understand what would possess doctors earning a respectable income to go over to the US and Europe as nurses. She can't understand why intelligent and qualified people such as her pediatrician and her anesthesiologist husband would want to "degrade" themselves and become nurses.

Well Lucy, here's my answer to your question.

This exodus of our medical professionals is not a new thing in our country. It happened in the 60s and 70s and has continued to happen without abate up to the present time. It is only now that there is a marked increase in the exodus that it has attracted widespread media attention.

"What?" she says.

Yes. A few decades ago, whole batches of medical graduates from top tier medical schools would leave for the US to practice there. After a while, demand subsided and the flood became a trickle. Unfortunately, that trickle was usually the very cream of the crop. They left us below the radar by taking the ECFMG exam which later on became the USMLE. Passing these exams allowed them to take their residency training in the US. After being certified in their specialties, a substantial number was absorbed by their hospitals.

"However, recent events have a significant difference from the trickle that has been leaving the country for decades. Now, it is once again a flood and this time they are leaving as members of a different profession." she says.

True, there is indeed a difference. Now, its not just the medical profession that is being sucked dry by the demand abroad. It is also our teachers, engineers, police officers and other professionals. Yet these other professions have not been demonized as unpatriotic.

"Granting that. But doctors have to be held to a higher standard."

Doctors are no more human than the next man. They are subject to the same temptations, dreams, aspirations...as the next man. They are also allowed to better their lives as the next man. So to tell them that they are barred from deciding to switch to a higher paying profession would be tantamount to involuntary servitude which is expressly prohibited by the Bill of Rights.

Furthermore, just what is it about the practice of medicine that the public at large seems to have some kind of magical draw to it?

What's so magical about being demonized for asking a professional fee that is concomitant with your training and experience? What's so magical about being sued by your patients when they find out that they can't afford the bill for your services?

People have no idea what it cost to become a doctor. The tuition fee for the first 3 years of medical school is P50,000 plus books and xerox of about P20,000 per semester! That is P420,000 in three years! Then on the 4th year the tuition jumps to P160,000 for the year plus expenses of about the same amount for the year. So just to graduate from Med school you need at least P740,000.

But wait! So now you have graduated. You still need to do another year of internship before you can be eligible for the board exams! Add the physical and psychological stress that comes with the profession and med school and one begins to wonder why there are any doctors at all.

So assuming that a doctor gets everything right and passes the boards in one take. What does he have to look for after garnering his brand new MD and license?

He can look forward to a nice fat P10,000/month salary as resident in a private hospital and P16,000/month in a gov't hospital.

Let us compare this to the alternative. If he goes on to become a nurse and finishes in 2 years. He can get a job that gives him $40/hr on 8-12 hr shifts for five days a week. a minimum of P64,000/month.

Furthermore, how can one fault young doctors from going on to nursing when their mentors are spearheading the thrust. Many of the hospital's senior consultants were the first to jump on the bandwagon. These are people that young physicians look up to.

So be kind the next time you think of those unpatriotic, selfish, self centered doctors who don't care about their country and countrymen.

Parting Gift

2006-10-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

As I finish the last enumeration in my property exam last night, I think back on the last words my professor said to us in class. This exam was supposed to have been a parting gift as this was the last time that we would ever get him as a teacher. Hope was tenor of the day prior to the exam and reality sinks in as the shit hits the fan.

Maybe he meant it as a parting gift because it would mean bye bye for us from the college said a fellow in the same boat. Maybe it is.

Maybe that is what he means with his macabre sense of humor.

All I can say is, good thing that there's still the power of prayer.

Loneliness of the law

2006-09-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

A recent conversation with a friend brought this thought to my head. She was saying that her life since becoming a lawyer has become a series of late nights alone. Of having a regular table at a little restaurant with always a single place setting. Of having to burn the midnight oil even after finishing law school and perhaps more so.

Subsequently, she asked me why I chose to pursue 2 professions with the highest rates of divorce and suicide...having the worst setup for a successful family life...having one of the highest rates of depression.

I could only think of the words of Justice Malcolm:

"I am wounded, perhaps burnt by embolismic expectations from my family, friends and other relationships. Perhaps I am tired of trying to be the best. But when I come to think that I want to be a lawyer...It eliminates my frustrations..."

And think that perhaps I would become lonely in this quest, but at least I'm in good company.

Blogging away...

2006-09-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

What is it about blogging that makes a normally private person willing to reveal a lot of inner thoughts and turmoil to the world in general. I have read numerous blogs revealing all sorts of things that people would never say aloud in proper conversation and yet they would readily post in a site for all the world to see.

Is it perhaps the feeling of anymosity of the ether space which empowers us to say aloud all our most secret thoughts? or is it the possibility of having someone alike read about our thoughts and know that he or she is not alone...

Is the internet really just a cure for each of our peculiar loneliness...

Girl-on-girl

2006-08-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

A question was asked in a consti class recently.

"What is an allowed type of same sex activity?"

It was answered by one in the class in the following manner.

"as long as its girl on girl and the girls are beautiful, it's allowable"

Predictably, the professor went ballistic. But the professor being that professor went only a short distance before sputtering back with a host of comments directed at the speaker about his choice of porn.

All of this was done in the spirit of good fun and, allegedly, a legal education. Hehehe

Literature

2006-08-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a friend a couple of days ago and she was raving about some of the new books that she has read. She was saying that it has been keeping her up nights and her performance at work was already suffering but she just couldn't help herself. She has even gone so far to cancel a few dates with her beloved boyfriend just to be able to finish the latest of a series.

It continually amazes me how the power of the written word has the ability to drive us to distraction and let our imaginations soar. To take a perfectly sane and functional individual and get her to neglect her means of livelihood so that a book, a story may finally be concluded.

It is, thus, quite ironic when I overheard a conversation over lunch the other day by couple of young people saying that books have no place in the new millenium. That since everything is in the internet anyways, then we should just forget about publishing and post everything in the net. Now, I am not one to trash the net as it is one of my favorite sources of information and one of the means by which I get things off my chest but in the contention of these youngsters, I beg to differ.

There is no greater feeling than to snuggle up to a good book in a rainy day while drinking a nice cup of cocoa and simply enjoying the joy of the written word. Somehow, I can't picture myself with the same kind of comfort while snuggling up to a laptop. There is no thrill like reading a mystery novel and turning page after page of heart racing whodunit. For some reason, I don't think I could ever get that king of spine chilling feeling with a mouse.

Maybe I'm wrong and maybe they're right. But hopefully they're reality doesn't become contemporary reality in my lifetime.

Just my two cents worth....

One Art

2006-08-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.--

Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster

-Elizabeth Bishop

And so the circus begins

2006-07-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, there used to be a circus that would arrive every year and perform at the Araneta Coliseum. And this was a real circus with elephants and lions and clowns. I remember that this usually happened around the months of December and was looked forward to by my entire family.

These days, the circus usually arrives around the time of July 25 or 26 depending on whether you asked Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the vice chairman of House committee on justice or Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong, the chairman. This circus, ostensibly called the impeachment complaints, seems to surface around the the start of the first semester and continues till the impeachment is found to be premature or later dismissed for lack of merit.

This year the start of the annual filingfest began with the discussion of when the 1 year protection of the president really ends with the pro administration congressmen salivating on the fact that the opposition filed the complaint prematurely.

A quote from Rep. Lagman seems to signify the administration's battle plan.

"It is clear that they were introduced while the President still enjoys her one-year protection from a new impeachment initiative. I hope to convince my chairman and the members of the committee and the House on this"

Meanwhile, the opposition plans to inundate the Congress with complaints as its answer to averred battle plan. This is evidenced with the 8 complaints of substantially the same content which has so far been filed.

However, even if they succeed in filing the complaint, there seems to be no doubt as to the ultimate answer of the president to the ever persistent tries of the opposition to unseat her.

Pimentel says it succintly:

"they will use their huge parliamentary majority in the House to kill it in one second. Hindi na rin kailangan pahabain yon"

And so the circus begins anew.....

The fury that is Glenda

2006-07-24T16:10:00.001-07:00

As the storm lashes out at the walls of the hospital, there is a familiar ring to the complaints that is voiced by the patients who come in to the emergency room. Stories of flood and power outtages in their homes and villages, stories of stalled cars and fears of leptospirosis or other flood and rainy season associated disease.

Interestingly enough, this is the background as we were listening to the sugar coated, tonsillitis causing speech of the president. Promises of infrastructure and super regions collide with the reality of a strained response to Typhoon Glenda.

Of course, I have no right to complain as I'm just happy that property class was suspended.

Pregnancy and stupidity

2006-07-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about pregnancy. It never seems to occur with the one that wants it but always occurs with the one's who want to avoid it the most.

Case in point:

This patient comes in telling me that she hasn't had her period in 3 months and that she thinks she has some kind of uterine cancer. She said that she read over the internet that it is one of the symptoms of this type of cancer. So after the physical exam and lab results come in, I say to her that she's pregnant. Hence the conversation:

"Doc di ako pwedeng mabuntis! It's just not possible."

"Bakit naman?"

"Kasi we used protection."

"Talaga? What kind of protection?"

"ah...eh...yung kwan po yung...withdrawal po."

"ay pwede ka pa ding mabuntis doon."

"di po talaga pwede kasi nilalabas naman namin after sex"

"Huh?"

"di ba ganun ang withdrawal? Ilalabas after sex?"

Haay naku naman talaga! Kung di naman makurta ang isip mo dito!