MD - Mirangan Doctors

by: Felimon Mailig, Jr. 

MEDICAL STUDENT: the very idea of my own name attached with these two words gives me a rush of adrenaline. It is the road to my childhood dream and the mere fact that I have started my first step to the bridge of that dream makes me anxious and excited at the same time. Nervous, in the sense, that the bridge may not be strong enough, it may not be steady at some point and eventually, I might fall. I’m excited even when the bridge may be moving back and forth, I could still see great view both sides. But the BEST VIEW, which I could not see yet, is the one waiting for me on the other side. The thoughts of being ALMOST A DOCTOR make me ecstatic, and yet, the fears of the unknown as well as the weight of the responsibilities that lie ahead, pull me back.

But nothing is as easy as it seems. I’m back to being a student again. After 12 years of schooling, I decided to take up medicine, not knowing that things are not the same as the previous 12 years in school. Studying medicine is far more difficult than I have expected. There are a lot of things that I need to familiarize myself with and to be accustomed to for the rest of my years in medical school and beyond.

Getting the weight of children below 5 years old. 

First is the problem-based learning (PBL) type of curriculum. Since elementary until college, I was familiar with the traditional chalk and blackboard and the lecture type of teaching. But with PBL, I learned to look for answers on my own. After sometime, I learned to be a scavenger. I hunt for my food and learned not to wait for someone else to feed it to me. Not only was the type of learning hard, but the lessons and topics as well. The topics in each module became more difficult as days passed. This is one reality that I must accept and I must overcome these struggles instead of complaining. I must always have this idea written in my mind: “Being a doctor is tough, but you’ll never see what lies ahead if you’ll stop moving forward.”

We had our first community exposure in Barangay Mirangan, in Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay, on October 2011. I needed to prepare myself to become a community student doctor for 1 month. The immersion gave me a lot to think about and had me realizing certain aspects of my life. Being away from our families mean that we need to depend on ourselves, that we need to move on our own. For instance, we are accustomed to waking up and our meals are already served on the table. In the community, you need to wake up earlier than usual so that you could prepare your own meal.

Student doctors at work.

As a student doctor, our mission to the community we are in is not focused on treating the health problems of the individuals there but to take also into consideration and provide solutions the different aspects that affect the health of the people in the community. For us to do this, we need to adapt ourselves to the community, as well as to the group (student doctors) so that we could come up with solutions for the betterment of our community.

As I got to know the people, I have realized that I could be a catalyst of change. In my own ways, I know I have changed them. At the same time, they have also changed me. I was amazed of how simple their life is and still they are very happy and contented.

Even though I was away from my family, I never felt alone. I found an extension, my new family: Mirangan family a.k.a. Baldemorts family. I am not a student doctor and I could not call myself a student doctor without them, my Mirangan family and the rest of the Mirangan community. Hopefully, with them, not only will I become the best doctor in the future but a better person as well.