Balikbayan doc: Medical exodus has benefits

In 2010, University of the Philippines (UP) Economics professor Solita "Winnie" Monsod gave her students a rousing "last lecture" for the semester, urging them to stay in the country and try to "pay back" for the education that the state provided them. More than six months after Monsod's patriotic talk, a Filipino doctor and UP Medicine graduate who left for the United States more than 30 years ago said he does not believe that a UP graduate has to stay in the Philippines to give back. At a forum on Tuesday, Dr. Ponciano Cruz Jr. said he disagrees with Monsod's lecture, saying doctors like him who trained and practiced medicine in a developed country like the US give back to the country by sharing their knowledge to local doctors. The forum, attended by UP College of Medicine students, aimed to address the exodus of Filipino medical professionals to other countries by encouraging medical students to stay in the Philippines after graduation. Data from the UP College of Medicine showed that more than 80 percent of their graduates eventually leave the country to practice medicine overseas, and the number has been increasing in the past 10 years. In his speech, Cruz said "East-West collaborations" in the field of medicine should be explored, and the knowledge and experience of Filipino doctors overseas must be "embraced and utilized" to optimize the medical training being done in the Philippines. Fusion, synergy Cruz gave as an example the likes of world-class boxer Manny Pacquiao and singer Charice Pempengco, whose skills, he said, were honed by Americans. "It shows the fusion and synergy of the US and the Philippines. If this collaboration is possible for entertainment, why not for medicine?" Cruz asked. He also refuted what Monsod said in her lecture that UP students who leave the country should "pay $1 million" in exchange of the taxpayers' money spent on their subsidized education. Cruz said he "computed" how much he would have to pay the country if he were to follow what Monsod said, having graduated in the 70s and leaving soon after. Taking into consideration his tuition in UP and an interest rate, he said the amount rounds up to about $5,000. He added that he and his classmates have actually already donated that amount, if not more, to the UP College of Medicine. "Beyond having the means [to give] or recognizing the needs, we give back because of love and gratitude," he said. Monsod hits back In response, Monsod, who was also invited to the forum, said she obviously did not literally mean that doctors who leave the country should give $1 million. "Anybody who spent all that time trying to refute me, [saying that] all doctors would give $1 million is a fool. That was done as an exaggeration to impress people," she said. "I [told UP students], 'Filipino people spent for you, you owe them.' If you're going to serve them, serve them by staying in this country, particularly in medicine, where the Philippines has been under-served. That is a fact," she said. She added that her speech was addressed to UP students and not to Filipinos like Charice and Pacquiao. "I'm talking to you UP students. Your college was underwritten by the Filipino people, so for God's sake, serve them," Monsod said. Monsod, who did not expect Cruz to refute her lecture point by point, said she did not like how she was "set up to be a strongman and then slashed down." What students say Meanwhile, a UP College of Medicine student said the problem of medical professionals' exodus stems from the fact that students are "brainwashed," believing that they need to study abroad to be at par with other doctors from the developed world. "But excellence is in relevance," said medical student Bryan Lim. "Dapat inaaral mo kung ano 'yung kailangan ng bansa mo (You should be learning the things that your country needs)." Lim said he sees the value of staying in the country, saying that it contributes to the collective consciousness of Filipinos. "You cannot do that by email or by donating," he said. William Mojica, a medical resident from the Philippine General Hospital, said he once decided to leave the country to work abroad, but he chose to move back to the country after experiencing what he felt he needed to experience overseas. "This should not be a debate, really. We should all give back," he said. — KBK, GMA News