what are people's thoughts on this? moreover, what are peoples thoughts on the entire phenomena that is the Philippine Diaspora? my parents immigrated here to the us in the 80's and are both physicians (feu grads), and i have always struggled with this idea.
why as filipinos must we always sacrifice? to have to put necessity over opportunity or doing what is necessary in order to provide opportunity for future generations? is it truly in the hearts of all filipinos to return home; and as succeeding generations are born abroad, is this love being lost?
i hope that filams, filipinos internationally, and filipinos in the philippines could comment and provide some insight on this. there is no right or wrong answers, and hopefully this dialogue would provide a better understanding for all of us who are connected in the struggle.
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(note that this is taken from a medical site)
***my views****I feel for you and I do recognize the situation that is affecting the Philippine Medical System. This so called 'Brain Drain' is a rather Philippine-centric phenomenon--thousands upon thousands of recently graduated Filipino nurses flee the country to look for lucrative work abroad and significant instances of Filipino doctors going back to nursing school for a chance to practice nursing abroad.
However, when one looks at this national discourse, one can't help but see two sides of this spectrum.
The negative side of this phenomenon is that the best of the best in the Philippine medical work force are leaving the country for better pay, better job security and life style, while the rest of the country is left with the 'left-overs', pardon my French. The same can also be seen about Filipino teachers, where a growing number of teachers from the Philippines are being 'imported' to the United States to address the educational problem in the states.
I truly understand the situation and the substantial effects this so called 'Brain Drain' has had on the Republic. My sister and I are citizens in the United States only because my parents came here in the early 90s. My father, who worked as a Civil Engineer in Saudi Arabia and my mum as a nurse in the Philippines were immediately changed as soon as we arrived to the 'states. Immediately, my dad took up nursing classes considering the lack of engineering positions in NYC (where we first moved to) and the fact that a nurse's salary doubled if not trippled an engineer's. This is personal example of the discourse that has shaped the lives of millions of Filipinos that come abroad for opportunity's sake.
Yet this is also a positive factor, which leads me to my second point. The so called 'Brain Drain' can also be seen as a positive light in that it has resulted in over 10 million Filipinos living and working abroad. Literally there are 90 million Filipinos in the Philippines but over 10 million Filipinos or people of Filipino ancestry are living abroad. This in its own right is a positive factor for the Philippines because it leads to annual remmittance of over $10 billion to the Philippine economy. Fil-Ams or Canadian-Ams are sending dollars back to the Philippines everytime they buy filipino goods, movies, cds, everytime they go back to the philippines or establish homes in the country. Economically speaking, has led to a global 'Filipno' awareness so to say because in the United States, Filipinos are renowned as a significant factor and contributor to the American health system. Whereever you go in the states you will see Fillipino doctors, nurses, pharmacists, nurse's aid, diagnostician, clinician etc. The birth and creation of a Filipino-American Manifesto has been achieved here in the states (i dont know about other western states) but I know that because of the brain drain to the states, the Filipinos succeed greatly here and which in turn transcends to the general impression of the 'Filipno-American'.
Im sure its rather similar for other Asian ethnics that are living in the states and giving back to their home states, such as the vietnamese, chinese, indians etc.
I personally think that the situation is not as bad as what others think of it. I have relatives and family members who are in Philippine politics and when asked about the status of the so called 'Philippine Brain Drain' they say that it is only a matter of time before the situation stabilizes itself. Sure some thousands of Filipino physicians, nurses, PAs, PTs etc go abroad to work, who doesnt want that? The main point of professionals is to provide health care and show the expertise one has to a host population, this is so when it comes to the Filipino medical professional (doctor, nurse, etc) when he/she provides much needed medical care in the undermanned US medical system, Canadian system, EU systems and in the Middle East.
Why do you think Filipino medical professionals are leaving the country in the first place? The lack of jobs is prevalent in our country. Ive heard stories from my father and uncles of post-collegiates with no jobs in the Philippines due to the massive competition in the engineering, medical, fields. The country is already over populated as it is, with over 90 million people and with numerous professional schools, the Philippines is graduating thousands upon thousands of doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, Physical therapists etc; more than what our country can accomodate. Do you think the Philippines can employ all of our possible graduates year after year after year? Of course not. Its all on the basis of the market economy. There is no demand in the PHilippines because the country is saturated with professionals, however there is such an EXTENSIVE demand of well educated and brilliant Filipino professionals abroad. Why here in the United States, most hospitals are saturated with Filipino nurses, physicians, pharmacists and many American medical professionals recognize the expertise of Filipino medical workers. I know in the OR/ICU where my mom works as a nurse anesthesist, the physicians and Director of Nursing demand 'Filipino professionals' because of the level of care they give to the patients as compared to American medical professionals, who lack the 'extra touch' training Philippine traning gives.
I like to think of the situation of this so called 'B-Drain' in a good way. Thousands of Filipinos go abroad to find well paying jobs and as a response to this give back thousands of dollars to the Philippines annually and provides a steady and profitable remittance to the country. This year, the Philippine economy has been recognized by ASEAN and economic partners in the EU, US, Japan and China as one of the "ASEAN 5" ( The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are the region's fastest growing economies). The Philippine economy has flourished at a rate of an impressive 5.6% GDP growth this year and our foreign exports are rising at a rate of 10% a year, which indicates the level of industrialization and infrastructure growth/infrastructure stability under the current administration. Positive growth factors indicated by the IMF and foreign banking systems have indicated a growth in the service economy, growing manufacturing arm and a booming agricultural economy. Added to this, the Philippine 'Diaspora' has played an important role in our economic progress, as over $10 billion have been given back to the Philippines this year due to the OFWs. The more we send professionals abroad, the more they will give back to the Philippines, which will trickle down itself to the domestic development of the country in terms of economics, education, government and overall national stability. Plus, one has to be realistic naman. The country has over 90 million people within a land area of 300,000 km^2; and as our populaiton grows at over 1.5% a year how can we accomdate? Immigration provides a breathing space for the country and better chances of a more effective human development index.
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Opposing Views have a lot of classmates in the US now working as nurses and they were at the top of our class, were Chief Residents in their respective fields of residency but still opted to go abroad because it is so hard to start a practice here and still be able to put food on the table.
Based on my husband's experience (he's a surgeon, I finished 4 yrs surgery training), it is so frustrating when you are expecting to be paid for a certain procedure (alloted to pay tuition, or other bills) and the patient wants you to lower the PF because they can not pay or they were discharged from the hospital with the hospital bill fully paid and the doctor is left a promissory note then the patient is never heard from again. How can you save money for your family's future with these kinds of situations?
Even working for an HMO (hubby works for 2 HMOs) is hard work with very low pay. Most HMOs pay their doctors Php100 plus per hour (around 2-3 hours twice a week) only even if you get to see 5-10 pxs for that hour. It would have been worth it to be paid per patient but that is not the case.
So that is one of the reasons doctors here prefer to work as nurses abroad.
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Yeah, it can be hard to put into words, but it's worth trying.
I think a lot of the frustration arises when we suddenly realize that despite all or hard work and good intentions, that we actually have very little ability to effect change in others.
The problems in the PI (political, economic...etc) you discuss are not going away and "sacrificing" your life/career whether for two months or a decade won't really change anything, although hopefully it gives you good feelings.
You can try to help people, and it's nice to help people but ultimately only the people or the "masa" can help themselves.
A trike driver is destined to remain a trike driver despite any work or intentions on my part. It's only when I see a trike driver reading a book trying to learn something in between his trips that I will feel real hope for the nation's problems. Unfortunately most trike drivers seem to spend their down times sitting on their ass smoking.
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Why does it sound to me that a doctor going to nursing is a very degrading job?
Gusto ko pong mag doktor- first love ko po sigurong masasabi
Dichotomous to poverty, the search for greener pasteur is indeed one of the major problems facing not just nurses but physicians as well here in the Philippines. I hope that one day, I become a physician probably with hopes to integrate that immense knowledge with the title MD and greatly, to heal or care for my patient in the most hollistic way I can- iba na rin yung power na nakakapagpahaba ka siguro ng buhay ng ibang tao.However, the issue of poverty is already passe. Kung US naman ang gusto nating matumbok sometime in our future, poverty itself would not view the difference between a physician turned nurse or either way- so to hell with frustration over that.
I am looking at this as a future nurse and a future MD. Bagaman gusto kong maging doktor, I came to love nursing as nursing itself and not just a premed course- formality na lang siguro iyon. Nagiging insulting pa nga sa mga nurses at times pag sinasabing pre nursing course ang medicine (believe me my inuedno dito). The thing is- so what kung mag nurse ang doktor- what' s with the inuendo. Hindi lang insulto primero at superficial sampal yun dun sa doktor pero insulto din yun sa nurse. Being the nurse that I am, naniniwala ako that both professions are respective in their own fields and are equal in the say about the care of their patients. Yung doctor ang responsible sa out of the bedside treatment of the disease (disease side) while the nurse deals with the patient's response to the illness (patient side). Kung wala yung isa, walang mangyayari sa pasyente. This is one reason why I opted to take both course dahil mas buo ang pag care ko sa pasyente- walang mas mataas dun sa isa. Hindi madali para sa nurse ang tagal ng taon ng pinag aralan ng doktor in terms of the pathology of the illness pero hindi rin naman madali para sa doktor ang tamang paglinis sa sensitibo at pinakatatagong parte ng katawan ng pasyente (and believe me, this is the reason why some doctors who take the NLE fail) at pagkelaman pa ang dami ng itinae at pinagreglahan nila. Anecdotally, hindi ba, pag ang mga consultants o residents ininstructan ang intern na mag wound care sa isang fresh surgical wound or mag insert ng line or heplock at walang kahit na anong gamit yung pasyente ni betadine o bulak na panlanggas, di ba ang management ng nurse ang naghahanap ng mga kailanganin nila? Sana dito na natin tinitingnan ang issue ng MD to RN. If ever man siguro akong maging doktor muna ako, kahit wala ang issue at paradigm natin ng poverty, bakit hindi ako mag nunurse samantalang kagalang galang naman yung profession na yon?
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Topic: Medical Diaspora: Bad? Good? Your views? (Read 1311 times)