random thoughts

Last Friday, we had the privelege of being assigned to Dr. Annie Francisco’s private clinic.  It is common knowledge that when the new batch of clerks rotating in Family Med come to visit every month, she prepares a huge feast.. (and i mean huge!) and if you’re lucky she has giveaways from her travels, which is another reason why everybody looks forward to it.  Her only requirement is that she takes pictures of every group that comes to visit and you write something like a reflection paper (sa amin kahit insights na lang cz every year it’s the same).. Through hard work, she and her husband were able to build a three storey building with a lying-in clinic, x-ray machine, her own pharmacy and a laboratory.

Dr Francisco keeps photo albums of clerks dating to circa 2003.. so it’s quite amusing to see our 2nd year PGH residents dressed in their immaculate white med uniforms.. funny how graduating from med school makes you look more mature than your real age… incidentally, it was Annie’s (my blockmate) birthday that day and she doesnt look older than 16 but she’s actually already 23… let’s see 3 years from now whether Annie will look older than 26.

Anyway, I was inspired by Dr Annie Francisco, not only because she has a successful practice, but also because of her demeanor as well.. She is funny, makuwento, talks really fast and animatedly, down to earth and candid. She even gave us a few practical tips on how to start your private practice..

1. maging ma-PR - well, i always thought this would work for me.. you have to build rapport with your patients.. even if you see them in the malls or in other public places, dapat ikaw bumati sa kanila.. as Dr. Annie said "wala naman mawawala sa yo" Besides, patients are still people.. For me, biggest accomplishment ko na yung binabati ako ng patients sa PGH canteen, sa ER, sa CI etc. long after my rotation is over..  that means, i am not just a monitoring machine.. i actually made an impact in their short stay in PGH

2. be business minded - Ang pangarap daw niya sa buhay nung siya ay bata pa ay yumaman because their family was not that well-off.  She was able to buy her parents a rest house even. Hindi porket doctor ka eh hindi ka na puede mag-business.. but this doesnt automatically mean you take advantage of your patients… for example, pooling your financial resources with other doctors to purchase equipment so you can set up a laboratory diagnostic center.. unless you are uber-rich and you would like to shell out P10 million bucks of your own money for equipment.. eh kelan pa yung return of investment mo? after 20 years? cost-effectiveness lang yan she even gave us an idea of setting up a dialysis center.. (sana magka-pera ako to do that so i can help treat my Kuya Paolo) because there will be more chronic kidney disease patients who will need dialysis in the future

3. network - Again, recognize that as a doctor you have your limitations. you can’t treat everything. That is why you need to refer to other doctors.. Dr Francisco has this notebook filled with calling cards from different subspecs.. Sometimes she call them up herself so the patient will feel inaasikaso talaga siyang mabuti..

4. dont be masungit - don’t be masungit to your patients, your classmates, your co-residents.. they will be your future patients and colleagues.. nobody will refer to you if you act so snooty and masungit. oh well, easy to say, hard to do in PGH.. you will need loads of patience.

5. Be happy  with what you have - Obviously they have been blessed but the good thing about them is they don’t desire for more than what God has given them.. baka magalit pa si God at bawiin if you’re ungrateful..

6. Go the extra mile - Take time to listen to your patients. Treat them nicely.. and soon, they won’t be just patients but your friends as well. Work hard and you will reap your rewards.

I asked Dr. Francisco if we could come back and observe or talk to her again and the gracious person that she is, she willingly obliged. sobrang bait.. sobrang nakakatuwa.. Im hoping future doctors will be more like her and that she will continue to welcome and inspire the idealistic clerks who come to visit her clinic.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 18th, 2006 at 7:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.