I attended my first Public Health Convention (PHCON) yesterday, and it was wild. I mean, there weren't any keg stands or fellows in cheeky shorts dancing to Gnarly . But it did open my mind to the possibilities of what a public health doctor can achieve in 2025, and those possibilities are wild. Public health doctors have been fighting for legitimacy and recognition in a world dominated by traditional medical specialties. To many people, being accepted into a specialty society counts as the highest achievement you can possibly get as a doctor. You can only join a "society" once you've proven yourself worthy as a physician - having undergone 3 or 4 extra years of residency training after passing the medical boards, perhaps 2 to 3 years of further subspecialist training, and passing rigorous oral and written exams, before you can finally call yourself a specialist. And although the word specialist itself connotes that you are indeed quite unique or special,...
We went to the doctor today for a follow-up. (Yes, doctors need doctors too.) His name is Dr. Jaffy, and this was only our second visit to him. I was supposed to see him five months ago, but I stubbornly put it off until things got worse. (Doctors also make the worst patients.) "Worse" is what my hands look like today. As soon as I sat down in the clinic chair, Doc Jaffy took my knobby, red hands and gently tapped on the joints as he counted. "Looks like all your PIPs are inflamed." Proximal Inter-Phalangeal joint. PIP. Such a cute word but whenever my doctors bring it up, the context is never cute. "Where else?" he asked. I said, my knuckles, elbows, knees, and toes, and then felt kinda stupid for reciting them to him in this order like a kid. He put his finger to his masked chin and thought for a while. " Mag- biologics na nga tayo ," he said. Biologics are a class of drugs meant to suppress my immune system and keep it from attacking my own ...
Like I mentioned in my last post, I got married!!! However, because of this stupid capitalist system that prioritizes worker productivity over well-being, we didn't have enough leaves saved up to go on a long enough vacation. So, we did something kinda crazy... And quit both our jobs at the same time. I know, I know, it's such a stupid decision to both quit at the same time. But really, if we hadn't done it, when would we ever have had the time to just go travel and enjoy our lives?! I had already consumed all my vacation leaves by going on my wedding and then our hometown reception, and Rap's work as an infirmary doctor did not allow him to take more than a couple days off at a time. So, we quit. And, using some of the money we got as gifts from our wedding, we were able to spend 12 amazing days in Japan. Here's what we did. Day 0 Flight to Tokyo Check-in at Shibuya Do side quests Dinner with Tita Baby and Tito Mak Our Tokyo trip was off to a bumpy takeoff whe...
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