[New post] How the Pandemic Shaped Students to Pursue the Medical Field
Edukasyon News posted: " No act of compassion is ever wasted, no matter how small. When the pandemic started, a lot of challenges in our world surfaced and shaped people's point of view. Still, a lot of people carried compassion around like a purse. They found different and c"
No act of compassion is ever wasted, no matter how small.
When the pandemic started, a lot of challenges in our world surfaced and shaped people's point of view. Still, a lot of people carried compassion around like a purse. They found different and creative ways of helping others who are vulnerable and in need. From just providing relief goods, neighborhoods then started their own "community pantries" and kept the gesture of giving!
Not only did people help in giving aid to others, some people also went the extra mile to be part of the solution — which is taking medical-related courses! Cool, right?
Challenges in the medical field
One of the problems in our country, which became more evident during the pandemic, is our healthcare system.
Having enough healthcare facilities is important, especially as new COVID-19 cases are reported each day. However, only urban centers have more access to healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and health centers. The Department of Health's list of hospitals showed that there are fewer hospitals in the provinces of Palawan, Agusan Del Sur, and Aurora — to name a few. In these rural areas, locals have to travel far before they make it into hospitals.
In terms of manpower, there are only 90,205 nurses and 28,639 physicians serving 109.6 million Filipinos, based on the DOH Human Resources for Health Statistics in 2020. This means that each nurse serves at least 1,215 people and each physician serves 3,826.
Needless to say, our country's healthcare system needs...help.
Heeding the call
Despite the challenges faced in the medical field and the fears that COVID-19 imposes, students heed the call of entering a health-related course to help change the world.
Today, more and more students have been drawn to pursuing medical careers to treat patients and save lives, because they understand that someone needs to step up and make a change! In a survey conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), over 22,239 students have already enrolled in medical schools in 2020 in the US alone. This is 1.7% higher than in 2019 where it only had 21,869 enrollees!
Additionally, they are more motivated to improve the system that we have. Research shows that a lot of students are motivated to continue with their medical careers because they feel a sense of purpose or duty — which is putting themselves at the service of the population. They also showed willingness to take risks in participating in medical activities, even in the midst of the pandemic.
These students see the pain and the suffering that others face and know that no one chose to be defenseless in the battle against COVID-19. Just like everyone else, they are choosing to have compassion and to take part in giving solutions — not only to serve their duties, but to also make the medical field better than what it is today!
Frontliners a.k.a. this generation's heroes
Not all heroes wear capes; some wear suits or scrubs!
Without a doubt, COVID-19 is scary. It isn't only that you can get infected and transmit it to others, but also because we are all vulnerable. Everyone, from any age, can get infected with the virus!
Medical frontliners continue to help save lives and fight against COVID-19! Their line of work is truly difficult and the pandemic made us realize that they are one of the most important people in the world! They have become the heroes of today who didn't let the pandemic stop them from fulfilling their duties of helping and treating patients. They are literally sacrificing their own well-being for the safety of us all.
You would think that medical frontliners receive a lot of benefits from their field of work but, in reality, they are overworked and underpaid. Their average salary per month is only P9,757 and during the pandemic, they were promised to receive hazard pay and special risk allowances. However, over 127,332 health workers waited for their compensation for two months and only received P3,000 per month — one of the reasons why some of them protested last September.
Calling them "heroes" should also mean that they receive the right compensation, benefits, and support that they deserve! Because we know that without them, the whole world will be crippled, and the recovery from the pandemic will be close to impossible! If we want more students to enter the medical field, we need to effect change — now.
How about you, are you curious about how to enter the medical field? Check out edukasyon.ph/careers to learn more!
No comments:
Post a Comment