Negros doctors take nursing courses to go abroad

Good day! I have a previous article about doctors who are now taking nursing course because the demand of nurses abroad. This is a sad news, however, we have nothing to do with it. Doctors want the best for their families....

Negros doctors take nursing courses to go abroad
By Robert Leonoras
BusinessWorld
March 13, 2004

BACOLOD CITY -- Almost 400 doctors here have been taking up nursing courses in the hope of landing jobs overseas.

Negros Occidental Provincial Health officer Luisa Efren said 33 would graduate this year. She estimated that 76% of the 380 doctors taking up nursing courses were employed by the government.

"This is a great loss for our public health system," she said.

Government health workers in Negros have demanded 100% salary increases to prevent them from seeking better-paying jobs overseas. Government doctors receive an average of PhP15,000 a month while nurses get between PhP6,000 and PhP7,000 a month.

To mitigate the impact of a brain drain among public health workers, the Negros Occidental provincial government will launch the Negros Occidental Provincial Medical and Nursing Scholarship (NOPMaNS).

Ms. Efren said the program would provide opportunities for the Negrense youth to acquire free tertiary education in the fields of medicine and nursing.

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Default Re: Negros doctors...
A similar article was also published in another local newspaper here in Bacolod. On Sunday, March 14, 2004...will be graduation day here at West Negros College. MDs who will graduate from Nursing course are not only from Bacolod City & neighboring towns/cities, but also from Dumaguete & Iloilo Cities. Those who will graduate on Sunday belong to the 2nd & 3rd batches of MDs & allied Medical professionals (dentists, physical therapists, pharmacists, med techs), plus the 1st batch of 2nd coursers (graduates of Commerce, Engr'ng, computer science, etc.). I think there will be about 207 of us who will be graduating on Sunday (basing on the temporary list posted in school).

It's sad that it's only now that a demand for salary increase for gov't doctors is being proposed to the President. They should've done this years ago! I've been a gov't physician for almost 10 years already and as far as I can remember, there was an increase in salary only once....the other increases I got every 3 years (step increment) was just a little more than 100 pesos each time. But the increase in gasoline & other commodities are becoming more frequent. I know that gov't doctors are becoming scarce. One reason in our case at the Bacolod City Health is this: Last year (2003), 9 Medical Officers retired....therefore, lots of health centers didn't have doctors....but the city gov't only hired 4! How then can we cope w/ the workload? And now, the banning for hiring is coming....so I guess the vacancies will be filled up after the election yet! So now, the existing Medical Officers have to cover for the health centers vacated by the retirees....I know that as MDs, one has to serve unselfishly! But sometimes, one has to consider that in order to be efficient, one has to take care of oneself & I just pray that we won't get to the point of being "burned out"!

March 14, 2004....I will finally graduate from Nursing course! I'm excited, but I'm also apprehensive....will this change in career really give me the same satisfaction & elation I get every time I hear the baby's cry when I deliver this tiny being into this crazy world of ours? Oh well...I can't say for now! So, abangan ang susunod na kabanata....
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Old Mar 13, 2004, 11:20 AM

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Default Re: Negros doctors...
Joy,

Congratulations. After reading your post, I had the same mixed feelings that you probably have. Happy that you are graduating and sad at the same time why you have to go through this. The same sentiments go to the others. The same sentiments I had for myself years ago.

It's a tough choice that some of us have to make, albeit reluctantly. We get bad presses for it. But you know what, that's why we don't write editorials for the Inquirer, because we have a lot more choices than they have and it's our choice to make.

Good luck.

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Default Re: Negros doctors...
It is really sad that even security guards working for the GSIS are payed more than a government doctor. I am not looking down on security guards but just exactly how many years of studying do you need in order to become a security guard? I was once a government doctor and at least during my time it was comforting to know that I was payed more than a security guard For those doctors who made the decision to take up nursing for employment abroad I say "more power to you all."

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Old Mar 23, 2004, 12:20 PM

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Last Sunday afternoon, while I was in school waiting for our Disaster Management training to start, I was surprised to see a camera-man & a reporter from the GMA channel. I asked my Nursing classmates what's going on & I was told that these people were in school to interview MDs who took up Nursing. So far, I know of 2 MDs that they had already interviewed & one of them is my classmate who is currently a resident physician in a gov't hospital. I was told that the interview will be shown in the Jessica Soho show. I don't know when that will be aired but I'm curious as to what they will be portraying in that show.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was in Bacolod just recently & according to some friends, she was asked for any comment about Filipino doctors all over the country taking up Nursing in order to land a job abroad. I was told that she said, she couldn't do anything about it coz even one of her nieces or nephews who was taking up Medicine also stopped schooling & took up Nursing instead. I'm not really sure if this is accurate coz I'm just quoting a friend who heard about the interview. I think the one who asked the President was expecting an answer that has something to do with the salary increase the gov't doctors are petitioning for. But basing on the President's comment, I guess a salary increase for gov't doctors seems to be doomed