Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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6:55 AM
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When asked about health care practitioners, we usually say doctors and nurses only. Little do we know that the family of health care profession is a huge one. There are medical technologists, pharmacists, midwives, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and a lot more. It is a sad and harsh reality that there are a lot of licensed, competent health care professionals suffering from maltreatment in Philippine society -- be it from the common tao, the professionals, or the government.
I am a licensed, competent and proud Physical Therapist. I was hesitant to work abroad when I was still studying my degree. My co-interns and my classmates could attest to the fact that I used to say I am not interested in working abroad. But here I am now, thousands of miles away from home working as a private PT of some royal. I am not happy here. I loved my job as a contractual Phyisical Therapist in Rizal Medical Center eleven months ago. However, I had to be practical. I had to look at some attainable long-term goals as a person and as a professional while opportunities still come my way.
Nobody informed me about the down side of our chosen profession. In case you do not know, a licensed physical therapist in the Philippines starts as a volunteer PT staff in either a government or private medical institution. The chosen few (the ones who top the licensure exams are lucky enough to get an offer for some permanent post if some decided to pursue the career abroad). Majority of us end up giving up our profession or working as a volunteer PT staff. I myself was a volunteer PT staff for more than a year. Though we (my fellow volunteers) received a certain amount of compensation every three months. (Thanks to the consideration of the administration of Valenzuela General Hospital and PhilHealth benefits).
So how did I survive more than a year as a volunteer PT staff? Well, I was lucky to have very supportive parents. I could never ask for more. I also did some part-time jobs. I applied as a caregiver instructor but later gave it up due to some issues. (That's another story). I taught English for some Koreans and I did some home service for a few patients. Most of my classmates that time were either working as Medical Transcriptionists and Call Center agents. I refused to give up my profession. What could I do? I love PT more that you know. I patiently waited for some vacancy to come and nearly after 20 months and two government hospitals, I finally got a post as a contractual PT with the help of our Physiatrist in Rizal Medical Center.
I do not know whether the Philippine Physical Therapy Association (PPTA) has some records on how many licensed PTs are there back home. What I only know is that, every Disability Week in the Philippines, PPTA conducts some seminar for "some continuous learning process and to update the local practitioners on what is good for our profession". They charge hundreds of pesos for a one-day seminar and that's it. I am not a member of PPTA because I refuse to be a part of some association that could not even stand up for what we deserve.
I know we have the worst political system and it will be an uphill climb for the PPTA to lobby for any changes in the existing policies. But this problem did not arise yesterday. This is an old issue which was left and ignored by the previous officials of said organization. I have nothing against the past officials who are currently working in the US or UK right now. Maybe they tried to solve the problem but they did not pursue it the way it should be pursued. They recognized the problem but they gave up when they found out that the battle will be very tough. What they cared about was to conduct some seminars and ignored the dilemma and the abuses of the profession. I mean, how can they conduct this seminar and pay no attention to the basic problem of the profession. We are not even recognized the way we should be! Most of the Filipinos know that a Physical Therapist in the Philippines is synonymous to a massuer or masseuse.
I know that our profession plays a vital role in health care industry. I am not asking for us to be treated the same way our society or the government treat the Medical Doctors. A licensed PT deserves to be compensated. We ought to have the benefits of the other professionals. After all, we worked hard (the years of studies and the licensure exams) to obtain our degrees and licenses.
I pray that I will still have the chance to experience and witness the changes on the way the Philippine society treat the licensed Physical Therapists. I am very much willing to go back home if it happens now. But with a lot of crisis there, I know it will never happen. I have to wait some more years.
For now, I have to deal with it. I have to stay here or look for a job elsewhere to pursue my personal plans for myself and my family. Anyway, things will never change. I am still a proud Pinoy Physical Therapist.
Posted by
rehabman
Labels:
Personal,
Pinoy Physical Therapist,
PPTA,
Profession,
PT
1 comments:
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Vinho, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://vinho-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.
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