Saturday, February 3, 2007

diaspora of filipino MDs

this is an email i received from pinoyMD, it is quite long (like most of us, i have a short attention span) but it was really written from the heart. inspiring, touching, very true indeed. missmed97, Congratulations and I'm sure you'll be successful in NZ, dont forget to look back ok? Kudos!

(fyi - pinoyMD is a yahoogroup)


just want to share my story..medyo mahaba pero tyagaan nyo na lang..

i was already applying for nz/australia since 2005. i even paid an
agency a handsome amount just to find the fastest way out of the
country. some said apply lang daw sa internet makakaalis na. yeah
right! may mga kilala ako naka alis na, ako two years na nagaaply
ah...andito pa rin ako!! i was thinking... malas ba akong tao? di na
ba ako mahal ni Lord? ano ba?!

im married with one kid, im the bread winner in the family. im
making enough here but im so sawa na, i want to secure my family's
future and i know it wont be here. i had been a silent member of
pinoyz2nz since last year. some said i should do my EOI first so
that may fallback ako. actually wala na akong fallback, ito lang. so
i lodge my EOI july29 '06, was selected aug2 but the decision didnt
become sucessful coz kulang daw ako ng points after recomputation.
para akong pinagsakluban ng langit at lupa. God, hindi mo na ba ako
talaga mahal? i read here somewhere sa forum about an inspiring
story of a housewife who after many months/years of applying thru
the net got a job offer and was on her way to nz. i said to myself..
ang swerte naman nito. ito lagi ang pinanghahawakan ko na someday...
someday ako naman ang susulat dito at magkukwento.

after the failed EOI, i didnt reapply coz nawalan ako ng morale but
i didnt stop. everyday i just send my cv to companies. walang sawa,
sige lang ng sige. kahit saang site. ano bang mawawala sa akin? eh i
really have nothing to start with, ok lang na mapudpod daliri ko at
magkakalyo sa kaka apply. sometimes i will be sending 50
applications per day therefore 50 negative replies rin dumadating.
nakakadepress na rin syempre, there's a time i will be going home
from the computer shop 12 midnight walking in the dark.. (wala
kaming computer, malayo ang internet shop at wala akong car).. i
havent had dinner and i was crying kasi i spent my last money on the
net for so many hours and wala naman nangyayari. i was into self
pity. mega depressed. what else can i do? i was praying, thats all i
can do... i was asking God to help me, give me strength to go on
kasi.. baka di ko na makaya. everyday ganito ang scenario and i
didnt stop.. i just went on. i was remembering the inspiring story i
read, in one of her lines she said 'isa lang naman ang kailangang
positive reply, ok na'. i held on to that line.. oo nga naman, isa
lang...isa lang.

sept21'06, a mail came saying they got my application last july pero
ngayon lang daw sila nakareply. palitan ng mga mails, send ng
kailangan nilang requirements. i wasnt getting my hopes up kasi ayaw
ko madepressed big time. kailangan ko daw maregister sa medical
council of nz, the MCNZ (btw, im a doctor)etc etc. by nov29 they
sent me a job offer, miracle #1. syempre nataranta naman ako! sabi
ko naku baka ito na ito!! pero it is dependent on my acquisition of
medical registration. sabi nila sila na daw bhala, all i have to do
i wait (i havent heard anybody na binigyan ng medical registration
ng nz kasi may mga exam pa ito at mahirap ma approve)i dont know how
i got it, even my employer was surprised! i got the authorization fr
medical council jan9. miracle #2! so now i can apply na a visa
because this is a requirement. everything is happening so fast!
first things first, medicals muna. im working in a hospital and
made a preliminary xray on myself na normal ako (syempre i have to
be sure) the reading of our radiologist was a "suspicious density on
the upper lobe", another radiologist read it and it is a "granuloma"
daw! nataranta na naman ako! if i have any findings on my medicals
automatic my visa would be jeopardized! God, pls help, if you really
want me to be in nz, you will get me there! kahit na ganito i pushed
thru with medicals, it was released in a sealed envelope after
4days. i was so nervous coz i know may findings ang 1st personal
xray ko, i dont know if the official reading will be negative.
milagro na pag nagkataon. and it was! miracle #3

so i went on with completion of docs, may mga minor balakid like NBI
ko i have to go to carriedo pa coz i have the same name with a court
case pero sige lang, i went with the flow. so finally i submitted my
application for working visa jan22, 45-60 days daw ang waiting time.
naku, pano na im expected in nz by feb12, at marami daw nadedeny sa
working visa. first time i heard from the embassy jan26 confirming
my identity and documents. guess what? the embassy called again
today feb1 !! in just 7days, the visa officer is telling me she is
stamping my visa approved!! miracle #4. i was crying..tears of joy.
until now im crying as im typing this... as in hagulhol, with
matching sipon, grabe. truly after all those hardships, the long
wait, the struggle, the self pity, the desperation, the insanity..
He will never forsake you.

last obstacle, the booking. my flight is not yet confirmed for
feb12. nakakahiya man aminin, wala pa po akong pambili ng tiket,im
praying hard na sana.. sana lang.. may dumating na miracle #5. im
positive it will. i know with His help i firmly believe, He never
fails. diba!

to those who have no JO, EOI stage, waiting for ITA, wala pang
interview, whatever process you are in, wag mawalan ng pag asa. i
know how you feel. i've been there. mas malala pa nga.
always remember, when you think you're already at the very end of
the rope, just tighten that grip, pray ka lang.. pray hard ka lang.
at ika nga, nasa atin pa rin ang gawa.

sa mga tumulong po sa akin, sa mga walang sawang nagbibigay ng lakas
ng loob at payo, mga tips on how to's. you know who you are...
malaki po ang naitulong ng forum na ito upang maibsan ang mga agam
agam, katanungan, fears and doubts. sana dumami pa tayo and continue
to help each other. return the blessing to others. mabuhay tayong
lahat and see you in NZ!

good luck sa atin.
God bless us all!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! This really shows that even medical practitioners here are having a hard time, every professional I know seems so eager to get out of this frigging country... tsk tsk.

Anonymous said...

very inspiring talaga.
May God grant us His grace and lead us to the place He wants us.

rheiboy17 said...

snglguy: sad but true, from domestics, to teachers, to farmers and yeah doctors - everybody wants to have a taste of the goodlife, and most of us dont see it here, so they look some place else. me? am still hanging (the makabayan in me)....... up to when? that, i do not know.

anonymous: God is great, all the time. thanks for visiting. :)

Unknown said...

thanks for posting this...i've experienced some parts of it also and it was really tiring...

but this gave me hope to keep on hanging on...just on going out of the country though...but on pursuing my chosen NEW profession...

rheiboy17 said...

myrlyn: yeah, everybody can relate with this story, it was actually a tearjerker.
hang on kiddo!

Anonymous said...

salamat sa pakikihagulgol with me.. nakakataba naman ng puso to know i can inspire and help give hope to others who need it the most. na touch naman ako with the comments... yes, life is indeed cruel but it is how you look at it and how you make the most out of it that life is made better. carpe diem! (missmed97)

rheiboy17 said...

missmed97 a.k.a. ros: as you journey towards a new beginning, always remember that God will never fail us, you are a living testimony of His love. Am so happy for you.

and btw, thanks for visiting my blog. :)

midnight rainbow said...

hi, followed the link from pinoyMD_options_for_exodus mailing list. :) nice to see a former PGH colleague in the blogosphere (different department nga lang tayo).

nice to see that you're with AZ! good luck and stay makabayan!. :) BTW, your kids are so cute!

duke said...

hi there. yanno what, i can really really feel for you. and this post just pinched my heart and i really am very very happy for you. grabe what we go through. i completely understand how you must have felt during times na walang response to you applications and the elation you got (tumalon din puso ko, hehehehe) when the offer arrived.

and yes, God is good. no, let's rephrase that, He is the best.

and we are nothing without Him.

Godbless you and your family and make us proud!!!

rheiboy17 said...

midnight rainbow: saan department ka naman? batch? pgh is relatively big, a lot of space for everyone, kaso the downside, because of our less-than-human daily workload, the ones we know are mostly the people inside the department.
and yeah, my kids are the best! (yeah, i know, am exactly what we call a proud dad - ganun talaga hehehe)

duke: she's probably in NZ by now. happy for her, talaga. and i agree, God is (Big Bossing sabi nga ni midnight rainbow) the BEST!

btw, nilagay ko kayo sa linkin park ko, thanks for visiting!

duke said...

ay mejo tanga ako. hahahahaah! kala ko ikaw yun. hahahahaa. tae tae. nareceive mo palang email. hahahaa. tanga tanga. sensya na.

rheiboy17 said...

duke: its olright, we're only human, actually i find it cool! :)

her email is worth posting kasi. :)

midnight rainbow said...

DFCM. kakatapos ko lang last december kasi nag-extra year ako. i'm sure we've seen each other when i rotated in pedia. :)

rheiboy17 said...

hmmn, if that's the case, then we're actually batchmates. finished pediatrics dec2005. OWRIGHT midnight rainbow, for sure, our paths crossed one way or another during our residency days... pgh is one big helluva place, haha!

walangmalay said...

brsst! kaya di ako nag-aaply abroad e. uno, madali akong mainip. dos, madali akong mabugnot (lalu na pag naiinip). tres, madaling magbago isip ko (dati gusto ko sa australia, tas cebu, then bahrain, next dubai, naging palawan, hanggang bumagsak ako sa qc). kwatro, madali talaga akong mainip.

rheiboy17 said...

dyenebib: ganun nga talaga siguro, iba pa rin dito sa pinas. o sya, panatilihing umaalab ang pagmamahal sa bayan (ay, nga pala naiinip ka lang) hehehe.