On being called doctors

PhDs are considered to occupy a tad lower in the “doctor” hierarchy  in Pinoy society. Physicians occupy the top traditionally since medicos provide health services that can make the difference between life and death. Dentists occupy a lower rung. Optometrists too and obviously vets. Pinoy society call all of them doctors. Pinoys are extremely title conscious even creating redundant titles like “brother”. Now why should anyone want to be titled “brother” unless he lives in community?

However in my travels all over the Philippines, not a few people have reacted quite negatively to the trend that physicians have taken on nursing jobs overseas. In their eyes, the sacrosanct image of the medical doctor has been shot down. I have been to a few towns where the local doc has left to become something else.  In one remote town in Samar, the regional physician told me that the “doc” there was someone who never made it through senior year of medical school at UP PGH.

These tales are part of my adventures with medical doctors and a veterinarian at work with environment and health in the field. To avoid confusion, the MD is introduced as “doktor ng tao”, the DVM as “doktor ng hayop” and us PhDs as “doktor ng kalikasan”.  The good thing here is that people begin to realize that health issues don’t just need the physician but other docs as well. It was the locals who dubbed us “doktor ng kalikasan” Perhaps they have finally realized that nature is alive and like their own bodies, she needs a doctor.

Biut one thing is hard to dispel. Many people think PhDs are just teachers! The reason why the PhD is held in lower esteem as the MD is that we don’t earn heaps of money. But that is also a misimpression. Many MDs don’t earn decent wages. And given the weight of their responsibility, it isn’t surprising that many MDs in the provinces have decided to become nurses.

One thing is certain. The time we spend in the classroom is less than we spend in the field.

Dr Lemnuel Aragones, an environmental practitioner works with medical and veterinary practitioners has to be on call whenever there is a whale, dolphin or dugong in distress. It is a tiring job according to him since these animals find themselves in trouble with people all over the country. It is a good thing the local carriers often foot the airfare bill. He is in Zamboanga one day and needs to fly to Ilocos Norte the next day!

I myself is an environmental practitioner who deals with biological diversity and environmental change. I have to be on call whenever there is an environmental disaster and this is becoming more frequent. For instance, I was the first environmental practitioner in Iloilo, 24 hours after Typhoon Frank left the city buried in mud. Now I have to be in the Sierra Madre mountains in a few hours.

It is very simplistic to consider us just classroom workers. We do a lot of things but it is in the classroom where it counts. This is where the change begins but we can’t initiate change if we don’t see what needs to be changed OUTSIDE the classroom.

But as I go through middle age, the polyarthritis begins to slow me down. The polyarthritis I caught from a viral infection in the field for which the physicians advice “just live with it”

And yet there are the types who relish their titles teaching outdated ideas. One thing is sure. My brain won’t slow down!

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