REFLECTION 3 LEADER ELIZABETH ANNE MEDINA
What is your passion? (What is it that you love doing? How is it reflected in your work, daily life, and life's journey)
If I were to define passion I would define it as a strong feeling that keeps us going and living. It fuels us and makes our lives all worth it.
There are a wondrous amount of things that make my life meaningful and I can say I am blessed, but my Passion lies in my love for children, my devotion to my family, my hunger for knowledge and my quest to experience the zest of life, travelling and exploring and discovering new things.
1. MY PASSION AND LOVE FOR MY FAMILY
The reflection papers has made me realize that I am blessed to have a wonderful family that nurtured me, and helped me to become who I am today. The relentless support that I got was just right amount, I was not spoon fed and given everything to my hearts desire but I was still given more than I could have asked for, the training of working hard for something has been pivotal to me. My parents have sacrificed so much and have provided my brother and I all the needs and even the wants in life. After my papa passed away my mother single-handedly took care of our family, and made sure that we were able to reach our dreams and goals in life. My mother set the example that mothers can not only give life, they can nurture and they will move heaven and earth and do all they can to make sure that their children will turn out to have wonderful lives. It is true that my mother was such a workaholic especially before my papa became very sick; I felt she was always absent. When I became more mature I realized that she did not do it for herself but for her love for us and her wish to provide us a good life. My brother would often have some ill feelings at time or what we call "tampo" but when I became a mother the more I understood what my mother was going through.
I have been married for seven years, we just celebrated our anniversary this August 9, and I must say that my love for my husband has grown stronger through the years. I truly made a right choice because I found a friend, a lover and a good father. Of course the normal squabbles disagreements are there but we followed the simple rule of not going to sleep at night without fixing our arguments, Communication is the secret in our happy marriage. We have been blessed with three wonderful children who have fueled up my passion each and every single day. My driving force is to provide them with a safe and loving home, to give their needs and help them to at reach their dreams as well has driven me to become more hardworking, diligent and steadfast. My love for my family is the simplest and most effective way to remove all the stresses, worries, fears that I have. Looking at them, getting their warm embraces and kisses are truly gifts from God. Even if I do have a busy schedule I make it a point to always spend some time with my family. My husband and I take time to play with them and teach our children. We try to nourish their minds as well so that they will have thirst for knowledge. We believe that by doing this we are making a good example to our children and hopefully they will be able to remember their childhood as a happy one and it will be a cycle that they will pass on to their own families in the future.
2. PASSION FOR HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
I grew up knowing what I wanted to do from very early on, as a child the cliché, " I want to become a doctor" was always heard from me. I truly believed that even when I was in my toddler stages. The influence from the environment that I grew up in, visiting my mama frequently in the hospital, has made me feel comfort in the surroundings. I was in my grade school years when my mama and Aunt wh o was also an OB Gyn called me and asked if I wanted to see a mother give birth, the fear of blood and the unknown never fazed me. This never changed even when I was growing up I was inclined to have more interest in the Sciences. I was a consistent contestant for Science Quiz bees and always placed well. I didn't do so well with my math subjects. I never had doubts even when I was graduating in High School; my choices for my College courses were all related to Science and can be my pre medicine course. I was blessed to be able to finish my pre-medicine (BS Medical Technology) and my degree in Medicine in Surgery from the Royal Pontifical University, University of Santo Tomas. My school has given me so much theoretically we were bombarded with so much information and knowledge; our teachers are well-respected consultants who are regarded as pioneers and doctors who are one of the best in their specialties. All of these I am thankful for but what really sets the training and education we received is the high regard to medical ethics, being able to practice with God in the forefront and having spiritual guidance in the practice of Medicine. The passion for healing, helping and reaching out was ignited early in my journey to being a doctor and the flame has been unwavering and strong. The patients that we took care of even if our clerkship where our patience, our health, our diligence, our humility was tested was one of the hardest pinnacle in Medical life because we were placed in an unknown environment, and we would have our first taste of being real medical practitioners. We were removed from our classrooms and placed inside the hospital where we will be called doctors for the first time, although technically we haven't passed the boards yet we were given the impression that since we made it that far there was no turning back and being a doctor is already within our grasps. These experiences have made me value life even more. It made me realize that doctors are only human but to be a great physician, one has to undergo intensive training and accumulate experience, a huge number of books, journals, studies will be digested endlessly and our perseverance, stamina, love for our dream will be tested. It does not end there I believe that to be the best we need to know that we have to lift everything also to God and ask for his guidance. The relationships I have built with my patients have made me a better doctor because it has taught me that patients rely and trust their doctors with their lives and that they deserve to be given the best in all aspects. As Voltaire a philosopher says, " The art of Medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. This means that being a doctor is not only being a provider of medicines prescribing pills, suspensions left and right it also involves taking the time to take care and keeping the patient at ease while his body recuperates. I do get days when I feel overworked and spent but when my patients come in, big smiles or their cries (as in the case of their inevitable immunizations) always manage to remove my stress and pains temporarily. It makes me forget and focus on the task at hand.
I have chosen Pediatrics as my calling, after being exposed to different sub-specialties; I was torn between Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics. My first love was to be an OB Gyn because I felt a connection with the mothers that gave birth and my group mates always praised me during our internship and clerkship for being very patient despite the long labor watches and the anxious mothers who are giving birth. However my love for children won me over. A very memorable case that I took cared of was a boy assigned to my care named Jerome, 7 year old boy, a of Herpes virus Meningoencephalitis. What was special about him was even if we had to do numerous shots, tests, lumbar punctures, he always still smiled at me and held my hand after I try to talk to him when we do the procedures. He was not able to speak and had deficits because of his case but after a month of taking care of him he showed some signs of recovery after treatment. He was able to walk and speak in short sentences. They were from the province and they decided to have him baptized while they were in Manila, he was 7 and never baptized and they got me as his Godparent. I was so touched and cried and I felt that this was truly my calling to be able to reach out to babies, children who sometimes cannot even communicate what they feel. The rapport I established with the parents also made me feel that I can be God's shepherd and help spread his healing.
During our residency the hardest part of being a resident was talking to a parent especially if the case was a sensitive one that the patient might expire soon. I got too attached to some parents who are on the verge of losing their child and it made me realize that parents rely on us to be their strength at times. The outcome sometimes can be varied some survive while some let go. The human in me really suffer at times I feel so vulnerable but through the years I felt that even I had to give strength and hope to my patients, prayer and his divine guidance made me stronger. Our exposure to patients who were critically ill in the Pediatric ICU and premature in the Neonatal intensive care Unit made me believe that there is always hope and to never say never, Statistics are just numbers there are miracles to be made and God does not forsake us. There are numerous cases where we are left with nothing and patients die but acceptance that Physicians are only human has to be realized. These patients who usually stay in our care for long periods of time become a part of our family already and we sometimes even gain friends in them. There are numerous times when I am faced with challenging cases and also challenging patients and finances become a problem at times, there are times when we are paid nothing but I believe that God has given us already a thousand fold in his book and that is more than enough.
The love and care that we give to our patients are endless and we act as their second mothers, from the first time we hear them cry we take good care of them making sure they will grow up to be active healthy toddlers, this is reward enough and the happiness I get from this is priceless. I am still in the beginning of my journey to being a great doctor I do hope that in time I will have the experience and my patients will continue to flourish and grow.
I have tried to be an educator as well; I admire my predecessors for imparting their knowledge and experience to students who become future doctors. I am only on my 2nd year as a part time teacher for 2nd and 3rd year students. I feel that it is my way of giving back as well to them and I hope that one day I may also be a good example to other future doctors.
I would like to cite our Philippine Pediatric Society Hymn because it signifies our passion and pride as pediatricians it shows our mission in life:
Pediatricians we are
Gathered here and afar.
Called to offer our lives for a cause
For our children we strive
To sustain health and life.
Dedicated we rise to this cause
To the call we respond,
With one vision we bond
All the children of the land,
We vow to serve and far beyond,
For God's tender loving hand
We proudly stand.
Thank you professor Jorge for igniting the flames of our passion it truly doesn't end here, we do have a long way to go! The subject has made me realize that we need to act and move forward that whatever we have does not end here. There are a lot causes that need our action and I hope with the gifts that are imparted on each of us, we will truly make a bigger difference. 3
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