31/07/2026
WHY DID I CHOOSE A CAREER IN FAMILY MEDICINE (OR SO I THOUGHT)?
๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
๐ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ต. ๐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต.
๐๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ. ๐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต 60 ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐บ 2026:
On June 30, 2019, I wrote a reflection entitled Moving On with Faith and Clearer Vision. I ended that piece with these words: At this age, especially being a late entrant in the study of Doctor of Medicine (Iโm already 30-ish), what is of great value to me is to live a life that is fulfilling, one that is purposeful. I believe that becoming a physician not only will I be able to save lives, Iโll also be able to touch hearts and souls. Success is directly proportional to the number of lives we touch for the better. To a meaningful life I go! Aja!
Back then, when I chose to pursue Medicine, I simply wanted to become a doctor. I did not yet fully understand that what I was really seeking was impact.
Throughout medical school, my interests evolvedโsometimes clearly, sometimes uncertainly. I enjoyed ENT immensely. Anything involving the head and face fascinated me. I loved Internal Medicine case discussions and reporting. During clerkship and internship, I was often told, โBagay na bagay ka mag-Family Medicine.โ Still, if Iโm being honest, I thought my path would lead me to ENT or IM. After taking the PLE, during the long 2-week wait for the results, I eagerly asked colleagues about training in ENT and planned to apply as soon as I got my license. Thatโs when reality struck. โTiguwang na ka bai. Lisod kaayo ka madawat.โ It was painful to hear, but I held on to hope.
When the board results came out, congratulations poured in, along with encouragement to pursue Internal Medicine. It was ENT versus IM now. Naglibog gyud ko. Then, on May 15, 2025, I received an unexpected message from the mother of a former student, a hospital owner in Davao City. We werenโt close, yet Doktora spoke with striking sincerity and respect. She strongly encouraged me to take up Internal Medicine and told me not to fear about my age. โLearning is never-ending,โ she said, citing relatives who completed subspecialty training well into their late 30s and 40s. When I told her my heart was still leaning toward ENT, she replied, โTabangan tika.โ But before our conversation ended, she offered an unsolicited yet perfectly timed truth:
โ๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐๐, ๐ฌ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ข ๐ค๐.
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ง๐ข๐, ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐-๐๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐ค ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐. ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐. ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก.
๐๐ค๐ ๐๐๐จ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ช๐จ. ๐ผ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ช๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฃ.โ
The next day, she confirmed what I had already begun to senseโENT would be extremely difficult to enter. That door slowly closed. As for Internal Medicine, the spark had already faded. I realized the training culture was not aligned with the kind of physician I aspired to become. The bullying, the disrespect I witnessed, still lingers and that quietly extinguished my desire.
At that point, I was a licensed doctor na gyud, but directionless. Unconjugated, unbound, undifferentiated. That was me. Nonetheless, instead of rushing into a decision, I went home to the province. Nagpahulay ko. Naghuna-huna. It had been 7 years since I last truly stayed in my hometown. Not just a short visit, but long enough to reconnect. I walked around, met old friends, re-engaged with the community, even helped at our family pharmacy after 8 years. I asked questions about healthcare, access to it, and the leadership in the province.
And there, in the middle of quiet mornings and familiar faces, clarity returned. I kept coming back to the same ideas: advocacy, prevention, continuity of care, and a community. More than that, I wanted to be a totem pole of influence where it truly mattered.
I realized I wanted a clinic in my hometown. I wanted to educate people, to advocate for them, to be present. Seeing how corruption and neglect continue to harm the disadvantaged reignited something in me. Not angry, but resolve. Kana bitaw naglisud na gani ang pasyente, hasulon pa gyud ug samot. Pobre na gani, mao pa gyud pangwartahan. Na-sad ko with what I saw and heard sa among bukid, but at the same time I was happy because I realized that I am finally a doctor, even with limited resources, I could already do so much.
While I was in the province discerning, I received 2 more unsolicited messagesโboth encouraging me to pursue Family Medicine. A stroke of serendipity. One even told me I had once been considered to be the MOI in Famed and that I would always be welcome in their program. Then came the final nudge. The same Doktora messaged me again, this time with a screenshot of my own wordsโsomething I had written years ago and forgotten. โVan, I came across your postโ she said and then shared a snippet from MOVING ON WITH FAITH AND CLEARER VISION:
[August 4, 2019] Iโve decided to continue studying Medicine. I realized I really want to become a doctor. I want this. I want to enjoy doing what Iโm passionate about the mostโactualizing PATIENT CARE. Likewise, I want to have a bigger voice in the healthcare, believable, respected, and have larger influence on my people in the province. If I become a doctor, that would help me effect real change in my community and achieve greater impact in our town since physicians have always had that bearing, that power, in making people believe them fluently. I would like to use that influence RESPONSIBLY.
The answer had been there all along. Sometimes we lose sight of our original objective. And sometimes, the Universe, through people, timing, and unexpected detours, gently reminds us. Doktora concluded, โVan, pangFamed gyud diay ka.โ
So why did I choose Family Medicine?
Because it aligns with why I chose Medicine in the first place. Family Medicine allows me to care for patients across all ages, contexts, and conditions. It allows continuity, trust, prevention, education, and advocacy. It allows me to return home, not just geographically, but purposefully, and serve where I am most needed, I believe.
Let me just say that this is not a compromise. This is a return. And this time, I am choosing not just with clarity and faith, but with conviction.
Family Medicine, where I can serve fully,
with intention, guided by purpose.
๐๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฆ 60 ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต โ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ" ๐ธ๐ข๐ด.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐'๐ฎ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข' ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช' ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ข ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข. ๐
