September 2002 Vol. 2 Issue 15
An Internet Newsletter publication of the American Society of CIM Alumni, Inc.
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September 2002 Vol. 2 Issue 15 |
An Internet Newsletter publication of the American Society of CIM Alumni, Inc. | |
THE ASOCIMAI OFFICERS: Dominador Ong, M.D. Board Members: Horace Cabasares, M.D. CME Coordinator: Ways and Means Committee BRAIN WAVES STAFF: Editorial Board: Maida Antigua, M.D. Editor and Technical Adviser: Staff Correspondents: Guest Correspondents: Send news, articles, pictures, announcement, obituary, etc., to:clems3ra@adelphia.net
| Editor's Column"Somewhere along the line of development we discover what we really are, and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else's life, not even your own child's. The influence you exert is through your own life and what you become yourself." - Eleanor Roosevelt Human Behavior (Part 3) Being in that position, I was getting dull and bored attending useless meetings, doing nothing but sit and listen to other directors from different state facilities that seemed to enjoy babbling and chattering. Almost all of them were American graduates who gave me the feeling that they would rather be professors than doctors, teaching than treating patients. What was so simple, they made it sound so complicated like accomplishing it would make them great. One Cebuano friend commented: "Kay maayo man gud na sila mo iningles." I did not feel like I deserved being paid more for not doing anything productive or useful. My interest was solely in patient care, not in bureaucratic affair. For the first time in my life, giving up the money and position I could have had as I wished, was something that I was really relieved and happy to do. I had no regret, no second thought, and I went to bed that night and slept the sleep of a contented man. When they knew I quit, most staff in the hospital were disappointed particularly that they have already started to relax, laugh and come to work regularly so that call-in sick was almost completely eliminated. Probably because of their disappointment, I'd heard some of them said that I did not really "have what it takes" and thus I was very insecure and uncomfortable to be in that position. Uncomfortable, nope; insecure, nope; unhappy, yes. Did I have what it takes? Well, I tried it for almost three years and our hospital passed all the surveys and inspections and we soon stopped the Medicare from sending cases to an administrative judge for me to argue for their hospital stay justification. There were hospital bills that were being questioned by Medicare and if we wanted the hospital to collect the money, I had to argue the case before an administrative judge. The judge would give the final decision on whether or not the Medicare should pay the bills. Whereas my boss lost almost all of the cases he argued for during his time, I had won every case I argued for. Having gone with my boss a couple of times to court, I had learned my own technique for winning. My boss would always argue for 100% of the patient hospital stay even if justifying it would be too difficult if not impossible. If I could not even convince myself that the stay was justifiable, I would argue for only 50%. After all, 50% of something is always better that 100% of nothing. A win-win argument like that is hard to bet. Nobody loses, let alone feels like a loser. Management Style Another problem was that, every department head used to fight and blame each other for every problem that came along and one reason I noticed was that my boss would listen and favor one over the other. This is a prescription for attention-seeking competition and a suck-ass operation. It provides a fertile ground for gossips to grow that would produce blames as solutions to problems. So I made it clear to each department that if they come to me with a problem, they must already have a solution in mind. They ended up talking to each other, not about each other, and solved their own problems. But I just didn't like the job. I had to travel to different state facilities to attend meetings and bureaucratic seminars that I had a hard time staying awake, do PEER reviews, mock inspections, write reports and other non-productive affairs. I was underutilized to treat patients, but over-utilized to push papers. To me, it was not life. I wanted life, not position and money. |
A sad end Leaving a legacy How we live our life and treat others can determine how others will remember us when we're gone. But some of us would probably say, "Big deal! Who cares, anyway? When we're dead, we're dead! We are dead meat." Well, what about our family, friends, and loved ones? Is it fair to leave them a memorial legacy that is unpleasant, if not embarrassing? So how would you like to be remembered? Wouldn't you want others to focus on the good things you have accomplished, the good qualities you have, the kind ways you treat others, and the ways in which you contributed to life? Indeed death is a very unpleasant event to talk about, and we'd rather not even think about it. But it's real - a central fact of life. Unless we acknowledge it, wonder about it, talk about it, we won't be able to come to the serenity of acceptance, let alone have peace with ourself when we are dying. For we cannot understand what we are hiding from and what we are denying. We cannot prepare for what we won't acknowledge, that our mortality is real down the road. We cannot really live our life to the fullest and enjoy it unless we know, understand and acknowledge that life is going to end sooner or later. We might as well start thinking about it now!
(To be Continued. This is the third in the series of 4) New Members: Marlah Montesclaros Tomboc, M.D. Class 1992 Carolina Davide, M.D. Class 1983 New Members, welcome to our alumni e-mail community. We are glad that you could join with our alumni e-mail community although most of you have your names and addresses provided by one of your classmates and friends. It would be a lot better if you can visit our ASOCIMAI web site at this address: www.asocimai.com and register there. Even if you are from the Philippines or anywhere in the world, you can still register and we'll include you in our alumni e-mail community. We now even include CIM students because we believe that may be their being a member can give them some kind of inspiration and encouragement to study hard in order to become one of our colleagues someday. It's the least we can do. It's a very little favor but if it helps, why not? And even if you're living under the sea, you can come and attend our yearly alumni reunion and we'll make sure you'll feel at home with everyone. The only thing is that, our association cannot provide you a swimming pool in case you need to breathe under water to replenish your energy. Can you sing? No? How about ballroom dancing, can you dance? No? Can you swim? Yes? Then you must be a fish. It's okay. We don't discriminate. We even welcome any of our CIM friends, medical or non-medical, who desire to attend our reunion and have some fun with us. Our next reunion will be in San Diego, California on July 16-20, 2003. Do not procrastinate. Start planning to attend now! When it comes to our alumni reunion, one thing we strictly require is a formal attire during the Grand Ball. So if you are a fish, then you have to come in as a penguin on your best-looking tuxedo, or a Filipino politician, not a mortician, on your best-looking barong. If you're a woman, you come in on your gorgeous-looking gown. It doesn't matter whether or not you wear panty or what color or what kind, as long as you have the modesty to sit properly. Just make sure your gown doesn't expose your privy when you're dancing boogy. El Presidente is very strict on formal attire. Once he spots you among the crowd without your formal attire, you can kiss your behind goodbye. You cannot really blame him. Formal means formal and there should be no exception. After all, this is the only night in a year in which every one of us can be together in our best formal attire. Just come. You'd be glad you did. Our community is definitely still growing. As we all know, e-mail is a vital form of communication and without it these days, it's like going up the creek without a paddle. Sure, you'll still get where you are going, but by the time you get there, the season has already changed. It will be just like wearing short pants in winter. Shivering, you'd say: "Damn! It's cold out here!" So tell your classmates and colleagues you know of to get into the e-mail bandwagon and contact us so we can update them about our alumni association. We don't want them to be like those Japanese in the jungle and caves in the Philippines hiding and thinking that the war is still going on. Membership Dues Do you know that our association is one of the very few alumni associations in the world that offer members to pay their membership dues through a web site? All because we, at your service, are the kind who is not afraid to "dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe," but we don't "bear the unbearable sorrow" because we are the happy kind. We just don't want to harbor any sorrow in our heart even if its arrow penetrates deep into it. With perhaps tears in our eyes, we would simply remove that arrow like nothing more than a splinter and then we laugh. Anyway, remember that the membership due is tax deductible for next April tax return 2002. And you know what? Uncle Sam is the "unbeatable foe." Yet if you are like those of us who want to beat this "unbeatable foe," pay your membership dues before the end of this year. And Uncle Sam will love you for it because he wants you to be charitable and compassionate. Instead of a foe, he becomes your friend. Everybody wins. The Wedding Well, women in particular, we know you love wedding pictures. Our ASOCIMAI web site now has the wedding pictures of the Yutiamco-Baxter wedding on September 1, 2002 in Boston. Our webmaster Maida Antigua made it sure that you all can view the pictures. So get into our ASOCIMAI web site and enjoy those beautiful pictures. Now here's to the newly married couple: "I hope that the only ups and downs you two have are between the sheets." To babies: "They will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, accounts smaller, homes happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for." To wine and women: "May we, men, always have a taste for both." To our sweethearts and wives: "May they never meet…. " To the Ladies: "First in our hearts and first in our wallets." And finally, here's to love: "A little sighing, a little crying, a little dying and a touch of white lying." Free Reunion Accommodation for the Special Few Volunteer CME Speakers "The man who cannot believe in himself cannot believe in anything else. The basis of all integrity and character is whatever faith we have in our own integrity." --Roy L. Smith "When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it - but all that had gone before." -Jacob Riis "It takes a little courage, and a little self-control. And some grim determination, If you want to reach the goal. It takes a great deal of striving, and a firm and stern-set chin. No matter what the battle, if you really want to win, there's no easy path to glory. There is no road to fame. Life, however we may view it, Is no simple parlor game; But its prizes call for fighting, For endurance and for grit; For a rugged disposition that will not quit." - Navy SEAL Masterchief "What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it." -- Alexander Graham Bell "One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world will be better for this." -- Don Quixote de la Mancha "Anywhere is walking distance, if you've got the time." -- Steven Wright, Comedian Mrs. Bloom decided to have her portrait painted. She told the artist: "I want you to paint me with diamond earrings, a diamond necklace, emerald bracelets and a ruby pendant." A woman on her first plane trip found herself a nice window seat in a no-smoking area. But no sooner had she settled down than a man appeared and insisted that it was his seat. A woman was walking along the street with her blouse open. A passer-by stopped her and said: "Excuse me, madam, your breast is hanging out." A lady friend of mine, on her way to a class reunion, started talking about memories in the hush tones traditionally reserved for prayers to saints and martyrs. Apparently, memories are sacred to her. Actually, I didn’t know what to say. You see, I have this unpleasant tendency to forget many things, not just memories. I was like this even years before being afflicted with "senior moments" ("memory deficit episodes" is the proper medical term). It's common knowledge among my friends that when we get into remembrance of things past, I have the dullest and most mundane memories, prompting them to get up and refill the cheese dip when I start talking. As part of professional training, I was once asked to see a psychiatrist, and there, I was to recall a momentous time in my life. My classmates, I heard later, recalled memories with movie and novel potential. But all I could come up with was the time I fell asleep with my dog on the top of the stairs. That's it. No dog bites, no falling down the stairs with the dog heroically cushioning my fall, nothing of the sort. Fleas did not even enter the picture. Just the dog and me in a two-hour freeze-frame, peacefully asleep, just like an Andy Warhol movie. I did not get a chance to ask my friend what memories she had in mind because she was rushing to the airport, excited over all the possible memories in wait at the reunion. Could she have been thinking of how the University of San Carlos boys used to steal glances at her at the Redemptorist Wednesday novenas as she sat, in nun-prescribed demureness, with her English-speaking Theresian classmates? Or maybe her first kiss in the balcony of one of those Colon theatres? Or better still, that last moonlit walk at the beach the night before she left the country, with a boyfriend she never saw again? Which brings us to another problem I have with memories: its readiness to bleed into romance. I have nothing against romance; I still get a lump in my throat every time I remember the Rizal-Bracken parting. What scares me is writing or talking about it, because then I fall into syrupy prose, writing lines like: "The present can turn rough and painful, leaving us past memories as our only refuge." Or: "If we have to get beams from the past to steady our present, we have to be careful that we do not get defective, weather-beaten materials." Or this one: "When the past that you're longing for is filled with the fragrance of kalachutchi and gardenia, be wary that it's not the witchcraft of memories." As you probably can clearly see, if I don’t discipline my prose, I quickly start to sound like fortune cookies for love-sick dim-sum addicts . For us who've been away from the Philippines for years, we should deal with memories as we do with long-missed cuisine (homba, balbako-wa, kalderita, crispy pata, etc.): occasionally enjoyed but not overindulged otherwise we'll die from clogged emotional arteries. Yesterday, my friend returned from her reunion. Another thing we can say about memories then -- that time does not only rewrite every line, as the Alan and Marilyn Bergman song says, but it also deconstructs gums and hair follicles. (Author’s note: A slightly different version of this article was published in the August 19, 2001 issue of Sun Star Weekend, Cebu). What value Life, ferment from a gooey, primordial concoction At Whose behest these births bring forth immortal links of DNA This conscious world of hopeless infirmity, suffering, and pain If this Universe we know in billion so years were to implode When this freak sprout of Time wilts, in search of meaning, I should reflect One people, one race, one language, one culture – that’s what it means. Are we really? A few months ago, I attended a conference on cultural diversity and civil rights in health and welfare conducted by the Office of Civil Rights, which provided training in OCR’s role of civil rights enforcement to ensure that federally-funded services do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin or disability. Last week, I read this article from the Boston Globe "AMA irked by US mandate on interpreters". The new federal mandate requires, effective immediately, all doctors to provide comprehensive interpretative services as the number of non-English-speaking people has reached staggering levels in every corner of the country. Effective immediately, also, is the mandate that federal funds do not provide for interpreter services. It goes without saying that the disagreement between the medical providers and the government revolves around cost. Money is the issue. However, if we take one step back, and reflect a little bit, do we really think that money is the issue? Or is it something else! Racism still exists, not only in America but everywhere else in the world. One would be naïve to think otherwise. Racism is just as bad today as it was a century ago. Because it is now politically incorrect in many circles to be one, people are secretive about it, hence it is subtle and difficult to detect. The most tragic, most symbolic display of racism in this country other than the Ku Klux Klan is the racial profiling by law enforcement and the personal attacks on people of color. Although racism continues to be predominantly a "black and white issue", in recent years, there has been an increasing racial discomfort with other ethnic groups, especially after the Sept 11 tragedy when there became an equally increasing tendency to think that all Muslims are evil and are terrorists. Even sports teams with Native American mascots are considered display of racism. Poverty in the inner cities is an overpowering display of racism as people of color and ethnic minorities have inferior schools and housing, and are stuck in a cycle of violence, drug and alcoholism. What is equally disturbing is institutional racism that often presents statistics about the high percentage of black men incarcerated or on death row, or the sickening assumption by white Americans that majority of welfare recipients are black and the "others". But then, there’s also the likes of Jesse Jackson who plays the racism card in situations that are not appropriate and uncalled for. That, also, is as divisive as whites who blatantly discriminate against blacks and other minorities. What about affirmative action and the reparations movement? These are America’s well-intentioned solutions to racial inequality. Even in our good old Philippines, Visayan men and women are the "Nonoys" and the "Indays" stereotyped by the Tagalogs as household helpers and maids. The Filipinos from Northern Luzon or the Filipinos from Mindanao are often being referred to as "Promdi" which means "from the province". The Boholanos are stereotyped in anecdotes and jokes as innocent and gullible people. At the conference, I participated in a survey about attitudes on racism where a majority of us were honest enough to admit that we unintentionally held raced-based assumptions or stereotypes on people. Some of us in the survey even admitted to knowingly expressing racist thoughts from time to time. One of the survey questions was on how to handle racist remarks. My response to that question was " ignore, do nothing and walk away" because I usually express my displeasure by silence and removing myself from the situation. I believe that getting into a debate over a racist remark is counter-productive and will not do any good. But then, I stew over my inaction as I am laden with guilt for not standing up to people who make racist comments. By letting racist remarks pass I seem to be condoning racism, which I absolutely don’t. Sometimes I think that dealing with the issue of racism is making much ado over nothing, that we spend too much time on race. After all, we are all one people, one race, one culture. Often times, I wonder if prejudice will ever go away! To Visit the American Society of CIM, Inc., click on any of the ASOCIMAI below:
A little more than two years after retirement, my boss passed away. He was alone because his wife died a year earlier and his children were in another state. His body was discovered by our nurse practitioner who went to his house because no one answered his phone. According to our nurse practitioner, he must have been dead for 24 hours and looked like he had some kind of gastroenteritis. It was a sad end of life whose behavior was mellowing and mending but was too little too late. The mental and emotional seeds my boss planted wherever he went, grew into invisible weeds whose tendrils invaded everyone's perception of him, harmed his relationship with them, and ruined the kind of person he was. Many people can deal with occasional outburst of anger or frustration even if it comes with criticisms, insults and obscenities, as long as it has plenty of love, respect and understanding to counter it. You've got to show the people who are working with you every now and then that you care even if your feeling for them is not the kind that says, "I've got you under my skin. I've got you deep in the heart of me…."
All of us know the rules for optimal health. Eat right. Sleep well. Exercise regularly. Don't smoke. Drink moderately. Keep stress to a minimum. Lower cholesterol. Get regular check ups. But even though we follow these rules religiously, it doesn't guarantee we won't die an untimely death or be diagnosed with life-threatening disease. None of us can bend the mysterious rules of the universe. Tragedy will strike the innocent. Prayers will not be answered. Just claims will be denied. Racism is here to stay. Terrorism will not go away. We simply have to stop quarreling with fate and learn to love life for its own sake. But how do we love life? Being grateful to be alive is one way to love life. How about restoring contact, connection and harmony with friends, colleagues, cousins, etc.? It's another way. But, too busy? If not now, when? It could be too late, you know. 
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Welcome
Jess Arcenas, M.D. Class 1993
Ferlyn Yap, M.D. Class 1983
Carlos Eltagunde, M.D. Class 1983
Augusto Macarasig, M.D. Class 1983
Ritky Chua Dy, M.D. Class 1984
Perla Tonelete, M.D. Class 1983
Moonyeen Ruiz, M.D. Class 1983
Jesus Martin Sanciangco, M.D. Class 1983
John Co, M.D. Class 1983
Joy Almagro, M.D. Class 1983
Maribeth Ching, M.D. Class 1983
Shirley Lim, M.D. Class 1983
Rhodora Bacalla, M.D. Class 1983
Roger Espinosa, M.D. Class 1978
Karen Kay Salveron Class 2006******************
As was written on The Reunion issue of Brain Waves, during the general alumni business meeting in our reunion in Washington, D.C., the overwhelming majority voted to increase our membership dues to $100 a year. This was explained in detail the reason why increasing the dues is necessary in that issue (July 2002, Volume 2 Issue 12). So for those who believe and trust the safety of technology, our ASOCIMAI web site once again offers you the convenience and efficiency of paying your dues through the Internet. Just get into our web site, prepare your credit card and click on Paypal, then fill up the form and follow a simple instruction. If you don't want to pay with your card, then you can print a form from our web site, fill it up and send your check via snail mail to the address given.
Women love wedding. I don't know why? Gentlemen, do you know why? I guess they want to have the official privileges of fussing at their husbands, telling them what to do and how stupid they are. And women who love these privileges and use them like nobody's business, tend to age earlier but also live longer. I'm not sure how to interpret this, but to me, it's probably a kind of punishment. Women love to see themselves in the mirror and so they are given more years to see their aging looks. Just kidding!….
Belen Flores Rosales of the Class 1970 who's residence is in San Diego, California, can now only accommodate two couples in her house. One of the three vacant rooms in her house is now reserved. So Class 1970 in the Philippines, this is your chance to have a free accommodation. Contact Belen now. Although Belen indicated that if you're late in reserving one of her rooms and it doesn't matter to you if you sleep in the garage, then come. Just bring a mosquito net in case you need it.
Many in our alumni are terrific speakers for CME. But where are you, Guys or Gals? For the sake of fellowship, can you volunteer to enlighten us with your medical expertise? Come on. We promise to provide you the best audio-visual we can get from the hotel. Not only that. We'll laugh at your jokes and the usual applause of course. So if you're interested to volunteer as one of the CME speakers, please contact any of the officers now or as soon as possible so we can iron out that part of the reunion which is probably the toughest and cumbersome part. We have to apply for accreditation. And we want to apply as early as we can to avoid the last minute anxiety. We understand that you're kind of hesitant because you are used to getting paid for your talk, but can you do it this time for the sake of charity? Please!*********************
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The artist replied: "But you're not wearing any of those things."
"I know," she said. "It's in case I die before my husband. I'm certain he'll get married again right away, and I want his new wife to go crazy looking for the jewelry."*****************
Despite a lengthy argument, she flatly refused to move and told him to go away.
"OK, madam," he said, "if that's the way you want it, you fly the plane!"******************
She looked down and shrieked: "Oh my God! I left the baby on the bus!" ****************************
Stumbling Along Memory Lane
By Tito Alquizola
She noticed I was quiet most of the time. "Don’t you want to talk about memories?" she asked.
“Y-y-yes...I do,” I mumbled, lamely.
"So how was it?" I asked.
"Wonderful, wonderful! Best I ever went to," she said, obviously still feeling the rush.
"Ran into a lot of memories?"
"Oh, yes, definitely. One specially", she said, teasing with an impish grin.
"And…", I prompted, shamelessly titillated.
"An old boyfriend…". Now she was really playing me, knowing I was hopelessly hooked.
"Which one?"
"The one in the moonlit beach."
I kept quiet, baiting her with feigned disinterest.
Suddenly, she went into gales of laughter which lasted a full three minutes before she said: "He was wearing a bad toupee, has a few missing teeth and was wearing a sports outfit which could be pajamas!" Then the spasms of laughter resumed.
"Mem'ries-
Light the corners of my mind.
Misty watercolor mem'ries of the way we were." END******************
WHAT VALUE LIFE
by Wilmo C. Orejola, M.D., Class ‘74
From the kindling of stars 12 billion years ago; this mutation,
This conscious oddity of Time, beating a zillion odds, O, gee!
This so-called Life has become ultimately, inscrutably ME.
These fleeting trials of organic existence would come to play
Arrogant, callous and privileged; or oppressed, resigned and poor;
Than perceived values of class, than vested attributes, Life meant more.
Makes mercy killers among us seem right, compassionate, and sane;
The innocent succumb to judgment expedient, selfish, primitive
Must we decide which death is impartial, which Life is fit to live?
Losing civilization’s gains, ending all evil and all good;
Why must man turn against brother, what intransigence's so profound,
Let’s waste no time, let’s coexist, let’s face destiny we’re all bound.
Have I helped others live as I lived mine with dignity, respect;
Only then to those million other seeds and lost chances, could I
Be proud and say: "Thank you." Because of you, this Life was worth a try! ***********************
E Pluribus Unum
by Marie Belen C. Flores-Rosales, MD MPH CIM ‘ 70
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San Diego, California
A Taste of Position and Money