Day 033: Promises

Day 033:

Today, we were asked (as a class) to write our own Vision-Mission for ourselves, our promise regarding what kind of doctor we will be.

"Nangangako ako, [pangalan], bilang isang Pilipinong mangagamot, sa harap ng Poong Maykapal at ng bayan na:

Paglilingkod sa bayan at sa mga mamamayan nito ang hangad ko; sa pamamagitan ng kamalayan at pakikibahagi sa lipunan, magbabahagi ako ng kaalaman, gamot at serbisyong pangkalusugan nang walang diskriminasyon sa abot ng aking makakaya, lalo na sa mga kapuspalad at higit na nangangailangan, tungo hindi lamang sa kawalan ng sakit kundi pati sa kabutihan ng kalusugan ng mga Pilipino at sa lahat ng larangan ng kanyang buhay..."

[I, state your name, promise that as a Filipino doctor, in front of God and nation, promise:

That my main goal is service to my country and its constituents; through social awareness and involvement, I shall share knowledge, medical drugs, and interventions without discrimination to the best of my abilities especially to the less fortunate and to the underserved, towards not only the loss of disease but towards the betterment of the Filipino people in all aspects of their lives...]

And it goes on to discuss our relating to patients, our professionalism and other aspects of our being a doctor...

As an afterthought... Given the circumstances... that this was a school-given project, it was not written out of volition and volunteerism, that it was done after several lectures of introducing the school's advocacy... would the activity really help us? 

I only hope that it did... somehow... maybe... making that promise, before we actually tried the itty gritty of the hospital and the difficulty of health care, before identifying the field of specialization we want... before knowing what we were talking about... maybe that premature promise, "as doctors" despite not being ones... would help us become better people in the end.