State of Medical Learning

As I was making my patient rounds in the hospital, a medical intern was assisting me. Since I am fond of giving teaching rounds, I asked some questions to her in order to stimulate her medical analytical thinking. WOW!!!! I was instead surprised on how much these medical interns go to the hospital and know.... aahhhh... oohhhh... aahhhh.... Did that drive the point?

I would have been more understanding if this is her first month, but after rotating to the medical department wherein neurology is included, I was shocked that they are not even familiar with the reason behind the particular medicines that are given on such patients. I even asked her if she read and gone through the basic equipments in our rehabilitation department. After 1.5 weeks she was just able to check and read some. After that I stopped lecturing. I felt frustrated.

This is not the only case. I also had my faculty staff meeting in the PT College yesterday. The staff are so much disappointed with the 3rd year because they don't even read their books. They rely only on handouts or lecture notes given to them by the medical lecturer. They study by memorizing and not even knowing the rationale (which is important in medicine) of why it is the procedure or management to be done. What is more disturbing is that these students are even complaining that they are being pushed to read. Duh!!!!!!!

Is this the present state of the general population of students? Are they just content in doing trivial things and not taking seriously their would be profession. What is sad to see is that their parents are sweating blood and tears just to make them finish and they don't even try to make it a worthy effort in reciprocating.

What have we done to the new generation? Filipino young blood who don't give a (censored) on what they need to be responsible about.

Teaching them starts at home. I do hope we teach our own children the value of education and the value of having values.
So which one are you?

Blog out...

September Birthday Bash

As the month of September ends, I am quite surprised to see that those who are dear to me are all jam packed in one month to celebrate their birthday. And due to my so hectic schedule I even forgot to greet one. Gosh!!! I should be burned to the stake. Hahahaha!

But as a offering of peace, I am greeting her and the rest in my blog.
First and foremost. Ms. Merci Guilas A very dear friend of mine who I met when I joined my mountaineering group in 1998. She became my very close friend when I was in tough times. And this I owe her my friendship and my loyalty. She kept me sane in my insane state. :) And of all the persons that I missed to greet, it is her. Sorry Merci. But definitely, I will be there always for you. Happy Birthday.

Second. Two of my college classmates in UST PT. Dr. Maita Senadrin and Dr. Grace Ang-De Guzman. They are good classmates of mine. We are still in contact with each other even after college and medicine and residency. We refer patients to one another. Actually they refer more to me than me to them. :) But they are great friends who I treasure very much. Happy Birthday!

Third. Ms. Rheena Buenaventura who was my PT staff in the hospital before she went to the US. Someone who is "kachika" (easy to chat with). Owe her one since I was not able to meet with her when she went back here in Manila. Wow, I have a lot of things to settle with people. Hahaha!!!. Someone who is dear to me and I wish her the best. Happy Birthday!

Fourth and not the least. Ms. Gemma Javier is my internship coordinator in the PT school where I am the dean. A very dependable, reliable and close colleague and friend. She deserves the best and I hope in God's good time, she will find the right one for her. God Bless and Happy Birthday!!!

Blog out.....

CDR King is truly King!!

One of the best things that are found here in the Philippines are good and relatively cheap computer medium/data storage. One of the outlet stores that exemplify this is CDR King. They have a wide range of CD/DVD products but also have good and cheap mice, some inkjet refills, CD sleeves, etc.

They have many outlets in Manila as well as Cebu, Pampanga, Baguio, Bulacan and Davao. Why am I putting them on my blog? Definitely this is not a paid advertisement but simply to let you blog readers know where to find a good buy. The very item I am so happy about is their own Flash Drive.


I have been scouting for the past weeks for a good and affordable flash drive since I am planning to give that to my staff this coming Christmas. And I am surprised that they offer their 128 Meg thumb drives at only 680 pesos. If I get in volume, they can still give some discount.

One thing I am happy about with their product is the fact that even in their manual, it has detailed instructions and FAQ not only for the Windows OS but even for Macintosh OS. Wow! Glad to see a product that supports both since one usually sees items that are geared only for the Windows OS.

Bought one for my staff since she will be having her birthday this end of September. I do hope she will like it. It will be definitely be very useful for her faculty files.

Now, where are my old floppies? :)
Blog out......

3 Week Hiatus and Aissa's blog

As usual, the past 3 weeks was a very hectic schedule for me. Deadline for my final masters paper, deadline for my entrepreneur paper, deadline for my medical association projects makes my whole body move back and forth. I do not even know where to start and even end. Now this October, I will be having a lot of meetings again. I definitely need a good R&R after all this. I do hope I can still find the time to again update my blog.
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Of a different topic. My co-PinoyMac member Aissa has a very nice blog. Do visit it at aissa.blogdrive.com

Till next time. Cheers!!!

This Week in Tech: One of my favorite podcasts

Podcasting have been growing in popularity particularly with the iTunes Music store supporting such endeavors. One of the tech podcasts that I find very entertaining is This Week In Tech. It usually runs around an hour of podcasting hosted by the well know tech guys such as
Leo Laporte,
Patrick Norton ,
John C. Dvorak to name a few.

The podcast usually discusses the weeks news but with each persons opinion. The thing that makes it enticing to listen to is the very entertaining way they discuss things. It is not so much heavy in terms on listening to how to's or step by step thing but more on the way technology is affecting us in real life.

The best thing is that they now go from using skype to communicate with each other from doing it on a live audience (Episode 21) in an Apple Store. After listening to it, I would say the show have made it good even though they don't have paid advertisements.
For the podcast and its concept. Two Thumbs up!!!

Movie Trailers: Shows to look forward to see

One of my past time is watching movies. Either at home watching a VCD/DVD movie or simply going out and watching it on the Big Screen. It is for me a form of relaxation. Since I have a very hectic schedule, I often not see the new coming movies in the newspaper or in TV.

So here comes one of internet's "Godsent" website. Apple Movie Trailers give an extensive lineup of upcoming movies as well as former movies. It gives me a sneek peak on the latest would be shows. Just like AeonFlux wherein Charlize Theron (one of my favorites) plays the role. This will be shown in December 2005.

Either in windows or mac format, you can view the trailers. All you need to do is have quiktime in you computer(Windows download or Mac download). You won't regret it, it is definitely a nice site to see potential movies to watch. So as we say in our own language, "Tara na, manood na tayo." Happy viewing!!!!

Leo Laporte: My Favorite Tech guy

I remember the days in TechTV when Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton would be doing their tech-geek stuff on a weekly basis. I love so much the show due to their very light yet full of content style of presentation. Unlike other shows who are so serious, these guys were excellent hosts and tech gurus.

But as for all shows, it was not meant to last. Gone are the days that I savor watching their show. Now after a few years, the iPod revolution came in and there also came the podcasting. I was so fortunate to know that Leo is back in KFI the tech guy. Now even though I don't see him in TV at least I have the chance to listen to him in his podcasts.

I find his website (click on the title) very informative and useful particularly to the Windows users in terms of security and to the Mac users who like to add more nice cool programs.

Thus I want to share to you this great tech guy in our time. It helped me a lot and I do hope it also helps you.
Happy Computing!!!!

Reminiscing my Mountaineering Days

When I finished my specialty training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in 1997, I was so sick and tired of being confined in the hospital for the X number of years of training and duties. This lead me to seek the outside and go into more adventures. This lead me to go mountain hiking and joined a group Metropolitan Mountaineering Society.



My almost regular monthly adventures to different mountains and provinces in our country was one of the best years of my life. I enjoyed the company of my colleagues in mountaineering. I found one of my best loves (unfortunately it did not work out), and I found my passion to make sure that I live up to the challenge of scaling our mountains. From Mt. Pulag to Mt. Apo, Mt. Kanlaon to Mt. Banahaw, how I wish I can climb again.

After 2 years of hiatus due to my masters class, I am planning to relive my adventures once I have successfully accomplished my masters thesis.

If you plan to climb or just want to see the beauty of nature click on the links and then decide. As for me, once a mountaineer, always a mountaineer. And the links above are my favorites to relive my trekking days.

TipicPC a computer "Buy and Sell" in the Philippines

What a hectic week but as I promised I will be posting some of my favorite sites while surfing the net. Since I am a computer and gadget lover I have to recommend one that does an online "Buy and Sell" in the country. This is TipidPc.

I can't exactly remember how I found out about the site but it has been a great place for me to hunt down bargain prices for some computer equipments that I need both for my personal and office use. I have been able to even sell some of my stuff here.
The nice thing about the community/forum is that sellers and buyers have a profile and feedback section. The ones you have dealt with can give feedback on your credibility. This gives a first time buyer an assessment of the particular character of the seller/buyer.

Another great feature is the ability of the user to bookmark the items you are following. This minimizes searches for you especially if you are canvassing for an item who has many sellers.
One of my best finds here is the 2.5 firewire/usb enclosure that is not available locally. Another good buy is a fully working Epson dot matrix printer for only 1000 pesos. Of course one should have the determination and persistence to always check out new updates.

The site is a windows/pc dominant buy and sell site but you will be able to see also some Mac based equipments. Again just be diligent to browse around the sections.

So if you plan to canvass for some hard to find items or good bargain offers try it out. You just have to register in order to access their buy and sell community.
Happy hunting!!!