Holy Buck, Fatman!

23 hours on the plane when you just want to get home and sleep is grueling. However, the trip was amazing and worth every single minute. We traveled with two of our good friends who have already proven to be worthy travel companions. I have to thank my one friend, (she knows who she is) for making this possible. If it wasn’t for her willingness to help out an organization dedicated to bringing quality health care to rural parts of the Philippines, we would not have had the opportunity to visit at all.

I’ll start with how we came to this trip. My friend, (I’ll call her “The good Dr.”) is a compassionate individual focused on gaining experience through any opportunity she can. This particular trait makes her a pretty insightful Dr. since she is focused on every experience being something you can learn from. She heard about a mission that would bring her to the Philippines and decided to get on board with the trip. It was an amazing thing, because her efforts paid off and we all had the opportunity to meet some of the most brilliant young doctors Manila had to offer. We were invited to walk through with her and we did. I couldn’t, out of respect, snap any photos, even though there aren’t any HIPA laws. I just couldn’t do it. I’ll leave with with one photo at the end of this entry. It should say the thousand more words that I want to say.

I mentioned previously that the heath care system in the Philippines is vastly different from what we see here in the states. The hospital that the good Dr. worked rounds in was an old, decrepit building that hadn’t seen improvements in some time. feral cats roam freely through some of the halls and some places do smell a lot like Cat Pee. Paint is peeling, No A/C, not even basic supplies. Most of the patients that were in the one room wards at PGH (Philippines General Hospital) are what they call, “Charity Patients”. They don’t have much money (if they have money at all). If you have some money, you can get a “pay room” that has A/C and is a little more private then the crowded one room wards. They still lack the basics. It is the patients (or patients family) responsibility to buy the necessary supplies like cotton swabs and alcohol. They even bring their own bedsheets and blankets for their sick family member. The hospital will supply one sheet for the bed. When a patient needs to be “Bagged”, (that plastic bag looking thing you see on ER, people) Doctors don’t continue with the bagging, the family takes over. The residents of PGH are busy people. It’s not that they don’t want to help–it’s that they simply cannot. There are too few of them. If a simple, life saving procedure can save a patient, but that person cannot afford to buy that procedure, they will probably die.

The Residents of PGH are an amazing group of people. They humbled the good Dr. by the vast amount of knowledge they have retained since they are tasked with working with SO LITTLE resources. They have so much information committed to memory and are 100% focused on simply treating the patient. The residents graduate with little money, much less then the students in the US (including the student debt) because they are often buying the basic supplies for their patients. Yes, you read that correctly–THEY are buying the supplies!

The residents were so accommodating to both the Good Dr. and to us when we arrived. They really know how to have a good time! we were treated to food that was soooo freaking good—it was amazing. We sang karaoke, danced and drank beer while exchanging stories about culture and life.  They are an amazing group and I am so fortunate to have met them all.

I’ll write more on this topic in the future when I am able to grill the good Dr. about more of her experiences and have more research under my belt about the health care system in the Philippines.

In the mean time, please enjoy our photos at

http://aaronichi.smugmug.com