Good day Professor Jorge, sending you my Reflection paper on the External and Internal factors that have shaped me.. I hope you will find it a worthwhile paper. See you tomorrow.
Cheers,
Kerk , MD.
CEBU REGIS LEADERSHIP
Reflection Paper # 2 External and Internal Factors
Leader Kerwin Mark L. Gubantes, MD.
I am a simple person with simple needs and desires however living in an increasingly complex and violent world has totally changed my perspective in life. As I try to examine different factors that have influenced and affected my life, I have come to realize that it is difficult to name everything in order of importance. Allow me to name a few Internal factors first before the external factors. First in the list is probably my inherent desire to help others. During my years in college, my active involvement in the Red Cross Youth organization has molded in me the value of compassion for others. I have witnessed firsthand how lives are affected by the ill-effects of typhoons, floods , volcanic eruptions and other calamities. organising some relief work for the people affected in various parts of Luzon in the early 1990's have given me a sense of purpose and direction in life. It made me realise that our lives are definitely intertwined with our environment. If we do not take care of our environment, then the massive forces of nature will be upon sand that is already happening today and with greater intensity than ever before. More and more people have been victims of calamities, both natural and man-made. There is suffering everywhere we look. If you recall the time when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the early 1990's, a lot of people were displaced, jobs were lost, the American bases closed shop and people's lives were transformed. I was part of a small group of young students dispatched by the University to do Community Organising in Bamban, Tarlac. We tried our best to gather the people together, get their cooperation to choose their leaders and started livelihood projects to help rebuild their lives. It was an experience that has really touched my heart and soul, being able to work and live with such wonderful and honest people. I could have never imagined that we were able to achieve such project in our younger years. When I came home from in 2007 after my training in Head and Neck surgery, that same love and compassion for people was again evident and put to the test. It was a very challenging year for the family, my Mother was diagnosed with a stage 3 Breast cancer and I was just starting my career. Every aspect of the Family dynamics were tested - emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually. I kept the faith and indeed the Good Lord saw us through the trial. It's been 8 years now since the
day Mama underwent a Radical Surgery followed by a painful process of Radiation and Chemotherapy. I would like to believe that Mama is cancer-free now but we have to be vigilant. I could not even imagine how I was able to provide for all the financial requirements at that time, I could only thank the Lord for keeping us and all the prayers from family and friends.
Another Important internal factor is my motivation to succeed. Since I was a young kid, it was impressed upon me by my parents that a good education will be the key to a good future. I was living then with my maternal Grandfather and mother during my formative years and it was not very pleasant to witness firsthand how my mother's younger brothers responded to the call of my grandfather for them to study well and prepare for their future. They had No Motivation so to speak. They squandered their chance for a good education and preferred to wallow in meaningless activities that they themselves are only to blame. Seeing my Uncles live their lives in waste, I took it upon myself to make them my inspiration and not to follow in their failure. They were part of my motivation to really study well and excel in my schoolwork.. Where they have failed, I have succeeded in a way as I thought. But now that I am back in Dumaguete after being away for almost half of my lifetime for schooling and training, I cannot truly say that I am a success story. In my opinion, Success is a very subjective term. I think it is best left for other people to say if you are successful or not. Success cannot be measured by the amount of money we have accumulated or earned or in the number of cars parked in your garage. I believe that at the moment, as I learn more interesting concepts and principles in AGSB, I am motivated more than ever to harness the potential in me to be a force of good and change in our society. I have started to take one step in that direction having been elected as Vice-President of the Negros Oriental medical Society. Much is needed to be done in order to effect a positive impact on the community and at the moment I am doing my part to make our activities relevant to the needs of our locality.
External factors on the other hand include primarily my family and the work environment. My parents have played a significant role in my life. They have molded me through the years and up to this day, has continually shown there support in any way they can . Although they have retired from work a long time ago , they have remained steadfast in looking after our needs . Not maybe on the financial aspect but the all important emotional and spiritual support. I am on the contrary supporting them financially at this time which is voluntarily given, given the fact that I could not turn my back on the people who has sacrificed a lot for me to get where I am today. Although my wife is not complaining, but sometimes I feel that it is putting some strain on our relationship. Sometimes I question myself if children should be responsible for the welfare of their parents when they retire from work and have not saved enough for their retirement. I do not like to use the word , but they become Burden at some point in our lives. My wife and I have come to an agreement in one of our private conversations that when our time comes to retire, we should not be a burden to our daughters. Filipino culture and our conscience dictates that we should look after our elderly parents which is not the case in other cultures. My sisters are also important personalities in my life When I started earning some money during my Residency training, I made it a point to help out in my sisters' education. I saw to it that they were able to finish there College and Masteral education programs. I am proud to say that I have done my part in helping them achieve their goals. If success was measured in the people that we have supported, then probably I have qualified to be labeled as such.
My work environment for the past eight years here in Dumaguete could be characterised as conservative and old-fashioned. I say it is conservative for the simple reason that Senior consultants who are heading the departments do not think progressively. Cases which should be managed accordingly by our specialty sometimes do not get the much needed care because they refuse to have the patients seen by our specialty. The mindset is still very backward and they would rather take care of these cases themselves rather than sharing the burden with new competent consultants like me. I am quite disillusioned at times. The bottomline now is that are we supposed to just wait for them to change there ways or should I start to effect the much needed change in the system. We will see in the next few years. For sure my new learnings in my MBA program with AGSB should prove invaluable in the near Future. Wish me the Best!
A Blessed Christmas Season to Everyone!
<please follow guidelines on reflection
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