Doctors are leaving the country - are they abandoning those who need them the most?

[midinite]

I have just arrived recently to re-settle so am unaware of this topic.

I spoke to a Doctor friend during a class reunion and he told me that there is a flight of qualified medical personnel from the country. Not just nurses but Doctors as well.

Okay, the question is - Are doctors in the right or wrong to do so?

Here is the quandry - they have a hippocratic oath which I am led to believe is all about caring for those who need them most (unless I am wrong). Why I say that? My friend is with an NGO and he reported that in one province almost half the children in the village died dahil walang Doctor. Apparently may shortage as they are leaving the country in droves...

Or is it their right to go to search for more money in distant shores...

Certainly the bad economy doesn't help but the question is:

Are they morally obligated to stay and help fellow countryment or is it okay for them to go to the highest bidder?

I know there are some doctors in this forum. Some even abroad...

Don't want to point fingers but ask a question than needs answering...as I type this another patient has died in some hospital that is understaffed.

[theveed]

Morals don't feed your family though...

[artpogi]

Morals don't feed your family though...

this answers it all

[Gumusut_Amige]

Sad to note that doctors are single-out here... perhaps because they're contracted to save lives. Guess if they have the means to carry on a decent living, I'll bet they are goin' to hang on happily serving and treating the pinoys instead of other ethnic groups. With the max take home pay of php 15k monthly (based from the figure given earlier) at your disposal, second thoughts to seek a better deal comes in naturally. imho, a better compensation package should be set for them to cope up their daily needs and just enough to dispel any second thoughts for greener fields. Baka pang-gasolina lang para sa araw-araw ay di pa sapat...

[nicolodeon]

Sad to note that doctors are single-out here...

Well its becaue the main subject of the topic are doctors but I get what you mean.. Like what I've said in my previous post on this thread, hindi lang naman doctors: andyan ang mga professionals (engineers, lawyers, architects, teachers, etc.) and highy-skilled people (IT professionals, etc.)

Abah, eh sa Japan lang lugi tayo eh - yung mga magagaling rumampa at gumeyling eh nasa Roppongi ah.

[midinite]

Sad to note that doctors are single-out here... perhaps because they're contracted to save lives. Guess if they have the means to carry on a decent living, I'll bet they are goin' to hang on happily serving and treating the pinoys instead of other ethnic groups. With the max take home pay of php 15k monthly (based from the figure given earlier) at your disposal, second thoughts to seek a better deal comes in naturally. imho, a better compensation package should be set for them to cope up their daily needs and just enough to dispel any second thoughts for greener fields. Baka pang-gasolina lang para sa araw-araw ay di pa sapat...

Question is who decides on the absurdly low pay? Could it be the highly paid top dogs of the hospital? Or the hospital? Or because other pinoys have no money? Diba mahal magpagamot everyone says? Where does the money go? More machines? The guy working on my cars just paid 3M for his wife's heart procedure and she still passed away. Where did the 3M go?

[nicolodeon]

Where did the 3M go?

Administrative costs, hospital facilities and utilities cost, government taxes, professional fees and of course, hospital revenue.

Thing is, even if you got all the money in the world and even if you got a medical genius as your doctor, when God calls you and tells you it's time, then no amount of money or high-class medicine can stop the call of death.

Syaks! Naging morbid tuloy tong usapan.

[midinite]

Morals don't feed your family though...

Same could be said for the corrupt cop but why are we angrier at him?

[johnart]

the main problem here is will you work for less the amount that you are capable of earning ? If your a doctor here in the Philippines and if you plan to have a family with the rising cost of all basic needs. Dont think you can survive. Just look at education nowadays it already cost 100k per year to study in a private school.

[uls]

Its a matter of taking care of others first or taking care of yourself first.

Most people would take care of themselves first. That includes doctors.

[m2's kumander]

Doctors do have obligations. Everyone does.

share ko lang po. i have two brothers who are doctors.
they are not earning that much even if they graduated from the best schools and even topped the boards.

fyi lang po, for 1st yr resident doctors they are only given 8k to 15k (east ave, st. lukes, veterans, polymed) a month.
and they even have 36 hrs duty.

Doctors have also obligations to their family.

[midinite]

Doctors do have obligations. Everyone does.

share ko lang po. i have two brothers who are doctors.
they are not earning that much even if they graduated from the best schools and even topped the boards.

fyi lang po, for 1st yr resident doctors they are only given 8k to 15k (east ave, st. lukes, veterans, polymed) a month.
and they even have 36 hrs duty.

Doctors have also obligations to their family.

That i understand. They have obligations like all do. But isn't theirs a higher calling? To help the infirmed and those that are most in need of their services. Everyone up to the factory worker has obligations to their family. The only difference is a factory worker is not set with the task of caring for the nation...doesn't everyone start out with a meager salary anyway?

That is just a thought...Like I said I am not finger pointing but asking a question...something similar to the issue I asked in another forum about corrupt cops. They have power but very low pay...so are they at fault for trying to augment it? diba we demand so much that they be clean...

Is it too much for Doctors to make that sacrifice as teachers do to help build a nation? Is it the teacher's fault they are mere teachers with teachers pay? They should bear the burden of education a country? Who will bear the burden of seeing to the medical needs of a country?
Why should a Doctor be exempt from this?

[m2's kumander]

That i understand. They have obligations like all do. But isn't theirs a higher calling? To help the infirmed and those that are most in need of their services. Everyone up to the factory worker has obligations to their family. The only difference is a factory worker is not set with the task of caring for the nation...doesn't everyone start out with a meager salary anyway?

everyone has an obligation just like what you've stated. "Care" can come in many forms, so i guess everyone, even the factory workers have that obligation.

am no trying to exempt the doctors. and aside from that, doctors are not the only one who goes abroad or finds greener pastures. many professionals do that. there are teachers who go abroad (dubai, middle east, canada)there still some provinces that don't have teachers.

Are they morally obligated to stay and help fellow countryment or is it okay for them to go to the highest bidder?

[midinite]

am no trying to exempt the doctors. and aside from that, doctors are not the only one who goes abroad or finds greener pastures. many professionals do that. there are teachers who go abroad (dubai, middle east, canada)there still some provinces that don't have teachers.

Okay...then I stand corrected. Teachers are leaving too. And that could be why educational system is declining. But the question is do children die from a lack of teachers? Albeit their futures are put at risk and that too could be like dying a slow death

[nicolodeon]

Okay...then I stand corrected. Teachers are leaving too. And that could be why educational system is declining. But the question is do children die from a lack of teachers? Albeit their futures are put at risk and that too could be like dying a slow death

Our country's quality of education suffers in part due to the lack of qualified teachers - and the possible effect of this for the Philippines can be long term.

[nicolodeon]

I've quite a number of doctor friends who have migrated to other countries as nurses. Major equation for their migration: (better pay + better benefits) x better opportunities = better future for their families. I asked them about that hippocratic oath. Some said screw it while some other says that the Hippocratic oath they took does not specifically cover Philippine patients only.

Some of my doctor friends who stayed here feel that they have a moral and a...nationalistic obligation to the Philippines - so that's why they chose to stay. A few don't have the necessary resources to migrate to a foreign country so even of they want to, they could not at the moment.

Like what the others have said (and what the other Tsikoteers would say): doctors have obligations too, as well as needs, dreams and aspirations to have a comfortable life for themselves and for their families. Sabi nga ni Theveed, morals don't put food on the table - but that doesn't mean I condone illegal activities that put food on a table.

Para lang mga professional (engineers, architects, etc.) and skilled (IT) workers yan: kaya nag-aabroad eh mas lucrative at financially rewarding sa kanila sa foreign soil compared sa 'Pinas.

I think there's a thread already regarding this topic...

[BlueBimmer]

pls merge the duplicate thread if meron

[uls]

Not everyone who took up medicine really has I-WANT-TO-HELP-POOR-SICK-PEOPLE
as their objective. maybe 99 percent of people who took up medicine believe they will make lots of money when they become doctors.

That will explain why many doctors dont think twice about leaving their poor, sick kabayans.

[midinite]

Not everyone who took up medicine really has I-WANT-TO-HELP-POOR-SICK-PEOPLE
as their objective. maybe 99 percent of people who took up medicine believe they will make lots of money when they become doctors.

That will explain why many doctors dont think twice about leaving their poor, sick kabayans.

You have a good point. the ones who enter may possibly be using it as a jump off point to make loads of money after all...so why kaya did they bother to even take the oath? Again, there are those with genuine intentions...but just like politicians they are being tainted by the rotten ones perhaps? Just a question...not an accusation

[nicolodeon]

My friend, our country also has a lack of qualified and efficient teachers because Pinoy teachers and in-demand in some countries (including some US stattes) and also because they can find better paying work overseas because they (our Pinoy teachers) can speak better English compared to other nationalities.

IMHO, it all depends on how one looks at it. If you look at it through life's lens filled with facets on nationalism, moral obligation to countrymen, selflesness (others needs before yours and your familys), spritual obligation and all that jazz, then a doctor would stay - and I salute those who do. However, if you look at it through a lens filled with facets on bright future for family, better career opportunities, achieving financial success and stability and all that jazz, then a doctor would definitely move where he/she can fullfill his/her dreams and secure a better future for his/her kids.