“To Be a Doctor of Medicine,” that’s what I have put in my
annual high school yearbook almost a decade ago. And, finally, I did it. After all the hard work, sleepless nights,
missed barkada gimmicks…it culminated into success (a success which I attribute
to hard work, luck, and divine intervention). A fulfillment of a childhood dream it seemed and, yes, I do feel that
I’m almost at the top of the world. Minutes from release of the results, text messages and phone calls kept
coming, words from dearly beloved friends and relatives expressing their
sincere happiness for my achievement. My
dad even cried, probably realizing that years of driving me to and fro, lifting
my heavy clothes and book bags up to my 5th floor apartment unit,
and asking relatives if they have money to loan him so he could pay my next
tuition fee have finally come to an end. Thinking of these, I realized that to finally see my name in that long
list of newly licensed physicians took a lot of investment. So, how does exactly one produce a medical
doctor?
Earlier, I just had fun with numbers and here I would
present to you the calculations I have made during my brown study. In my first year of medical school, I spent,
let’s say, P60,000 for my tuition fee. And since some of the subjects during the
first year (which are basic ones like anatomy, histology, and biochemistry)
were taken up during my biology course, I didn’t have to buy the books. Let’s just say, I spent up to P5,000 for the
books for the first year only. Then, it
was rather difficult going to school from my house in Bulacan, carrying heavy
books and all, so my parents decided that I should just stay in an apartment
near school. This apartment I shared
with 3 of my La Salle schoolmates and are first-year
medical students like myself. Rent was
P8,500 per month, exclusive of electricity, water, and phone usage. So, to simplify matters, based on my
calculations, I must have spent P36,000 in one year for my board and
lodging. Allowance for one year have
amounted to P48,000. Of course, there
are still extraneous expenses but let’s just talk about the basic ones. All in all, my expenses for my first year of
medical school amounted to approximately P150,000.
Fortunately I was able to be
promoted to second year and, of
course, expenses were also “promoted”. Tuition fees, as we all know,
increase every year. I can’t exactly remember the figures. But let’s
say that the tuition fee for second
year was P65,000. We were done with the
basic subjects already and I had to buy the medical books. There were
new subjects, of course. Major ones were Pediatrics, Obstetrics and
Gynecology, Pharmacology, Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pathology, and
Microbiology and Parasitology. Books for
each subject roughly cost around P2000-P3000. So, for an estimate, I
must have spent P18,000-P21,000 for my books in
second year (which were, thankfully, will be used for the remaining
years in
medical school). This was also the time
that I had to buy the “tools of the trade” (stethoscope, diagnostic
kit,
etc.). A modest Littman stethoscope
(which is the one most commonly used) cost around P2,500-2,800. A
diagnostic kit composed of an ophthalmoscope
and otoscope (Welsch-Allyn is the most common) cost around P15,000,
depending
on the model and the specifications. Presuming that my board and
lodging
expenses and allowance remained the same, my total expense for the
second year
of medical school amounted to approximately P160,000-P170,000.
Since most of the third year subjects were just continuation
of the previous year, I think it would be safe to assume that all other
expenses remained the same. However, it
was in this year that we changed our uniforms to the “V-neck”. So, perhaps, we could add a little P5,000 to
our previous estimation and it would be the approximate amount spent for my
third year of medical school.
Now, here comes the more
exciting part. It is the fourth and last year of medical
school. No more classes during this
time. Students spent most of their time
in the hospital wards, taking care of patients, doing rounds with the
consultants and the residents, and, yeah, of course, being scolded and
shouted
at by our dear nurses. We are the lowest
form of animal in the hospital, so to speak. And to top it all off, we
paid P140,000 to get all of that. Our elders would say at that time
that we
just had to be patient and suffer it all because all doctors went
through it. And so, as patiently as I could, went through
it all: spending most of my time in the hospital, going on 24-hour duty
every 3
days (with no from duty status), making sure that all orders, written
and
verbal, for the patients were done (while at the same time, preparing
for the
numerous conferences), reading our books (so that the next time the
consultant
asks questions, we would be able to answer and not be given demerits)
and
preparing for the oral and written exams at the end of the year before
graduation. I could ramble on and on
about the things we experienced during our clerkship year, but I think
I’d talk
about that some other time, in some other journal. Suffice to say that,
clerkship year was the
hardest year for any medical student. So, for the final year, I’d
daresay that I spent P224,000-230,000,
excluding expenses for graduation.
So, there you go. That must have been just a little less a million pesos spent just for
one medical doctor. Add to that the
hardship spent for studying, disciplining oneself, and patience and strong
moral support from loved ones. At first,
I was only after the title of “MD”, which seemed to bring honor if appended to
one’s name. Now I realize, after
thinking all of these “calculations”, that the “MD” meant a lot more than just
being known or called a doctor. To help
and be of service to fellow humans. It
is a life’s work. There is no turning
back anymore.
