A message to doctors

(Excerpts from a speech delivered during the 68th Annual Convention of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society of the Philippines.)

WHEN your super efficient, hyper-energetic and megadynamic Convention Chair Dr. Ditas Christina Decena invited me to speak to you tonight, I apologetically refused, saying: “I am not a doctor.” But Dr. Decena replied: “I believe it is about time that we listened to a priest. After all, you priests were once called doctors – witch doctors.” I thought at first she wanted me to perform a ritual dance of exorcism to drive out the evil spirits that oppress or possess many of you.

She later explained that, as incoming president of your prestigious organization, she simply wanted me to give you some friendly reminders regarding the current public perception of the medical profession.

Based on my experience, Filipino doctors are among the best specimens of humanity. We look up to you as models for emulation because of your many virtues, especially your self-discipline as manifested in your long years of study and the way you perform your daily work; and your devotion to continuous updating, as shown in annual conventions where you learn more efficient ways to practice the art of healing.

We look up to you in a special way, members of the POGS, because your branch of medical expertise puts you in very intimate contact with human life, before, during, and after birth.

I remember the story of a doctor who, for the first time, helped deliver a child. After a few days, as she watched the new-born child nestled in the arms of the mother, the infant suddenly opened her eyes and looked directly at the doctor. At that instant, the doctor realized that she was the first human being this baby girl had ever seen. Deeply moved, the doctor felt so privileged and blessed, that for a moment she had tears in her eyes.

To be the first person every newborn child sees is a great privilege indeed. I therefore greatly admire doctors like you who not only stress the need for maternal health, but the life and health of the defenseless unborn and the newly born.

St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote: Corruptio optimi, pessima. “The corruption of the best is the worst of all tragedies.” You are among the best professionals in our country. It would be tragic if you allow the best that is in you to be superseded by the thirst for popularity, wealth, and power.

A few years ago, I read an article about the public perception of doctors in America. The article lamented the fact that, in the past, doctors visited their patients at home. Today patients visit their doctors. In effect, doctors miss out on one very important aspect of the patient’s overall assessment: the home environment. Also, many years ago, doctors, diagnose their patients only after physically examining the patient and listening to the noises of the anatomy. Today, physicians look at the laboratory results before examining the patient.

Here in our country, a worker in the pharmaceutical industry wrote about his first-hand knowledge of the many favors doctors receive from drug manufacturers. He also alleged that the price of medicine increases every year to cover the foreign travels of doctors, their conventions, and many other activities underwritten by pharmaceutical firms.

What is most disturbing about these allegations is not that these are prevalent, but that these might be true. We need doctors to belie these allegations, doctors whose love for God, their profession, and their fellow human beings remain their driving force for success.

I once asked Dr. Decena how she determines if she has already achieved success. She replied: “I am a successful physician if my patients and colleagues consider me as a person of integrity, moral uprightness, professional competence, and intellectual honesty.” Since these are Dr. Decena’s standards of success, which I believe are shared by his fellow officers of the POGS, then, I can say that your organization is in good hands.