At the end of the day.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Michael Hussin B. Muin, M.D.

DOCTORS are leaving. We've read the bitter reviews, the harsh editorials and the sensational news. Filipino doctors are packing their bags and taking the next flight out of the country. It doesn't matter where or as what. The bottom line is that they're out of here-and Philippine society is angry.

It's easy to lump individuals into professional categories: doctors, specialists, general practitioners. When headlines shout, "Doctors are leaving," it conjures an image of a crowd in a cinema running and fighting their way to the exit as if a fire just occurred. In this instance, it doesn't matter where you end up as long as you don't end up dead. Anywhere but here, as an old saying goes.

Is this far from the truth? I honestly don't know. I only know that there are familiar faces in the crowd: classmates, friends, teachers and mentors. And they are not running. They are sitting silently in the corner, deep in thought but ready to make their move.

My friend once told me this story. He was in a Florida club with a white female friend. This was just after he passed the local board exams. A white dude came up to him and insulted him, using racist remarks. His female companion defended him, saying he was a Filipino doctor. The dude just had one more thing to say to my friend, "So, what does that make you here?" My friend replied, "Nothing. That makes me nothing at all."

Sad, but that's a true story. It also drives home the point that some doctors, when they leave for other countries, may also be leaving their hard-earned degrees. Ten years of sleepless nights, stressful days and neck-breaking hours in between-all down the drain.