Perspectives Clearer Than Vision 20/20

An open journal of an Optometrist now in focus to Medicine. By: Andueza, Harriet Faith

[geekstudying]

12 new year month-long challenge ideas

don’t buy “extra” stuff for a month 💸 - that means no shopping for clothes, no starbucks, no restaurant dates, no random pretty stationery. buy only what you truly need.

learn a language every day for a month 🌍 - there are tons of apps and recources out there meant to help you learn a new language. don’t give up after a week long streak, make it a month!

read (x) pages every day for a month 📖 - looking at my not-even-half-done goodreads challene makes me sad, so working on reducing my tbr list is one of my top priorities this upcoming year

watch a (short) documentary every day for a month 📽 - make a new folder on youtube and add all educational videos you think you’d find interesting to it. there are countless channels out there - crashcourse, it’s okay to be smart, kurzgesagt, ted-ed (…) with variety of amazing videos

study for (x) hours every day for a month 🧠 - it’s easy not to do anything school related when you have an exam-free week, but when the time comes, you might find yourself overwhelmed with work. try to study every day, but be mindful of your mental health.

meditate every day for a month 🧘 - find a good youtube meditation coach or install an app and use it. even if it’s only three minutes a day, it could make a big difference.

work out every day for a month 🏃 - other than working on your mental health, you need to take care of your physical health as well. a workout can be anything from a simple 5-minute stretch, to a 2-hour long gym session!

reach 10k steps every day for a month 🚶 - a lot of phones have pedometers pre-installed, but if your phone doesn’t, i truly recommend getting a step counting app. go out and get some fresh air! if it’s too cold outside, you can walk around in circles in your house

drink (x) liters of water every day for a month 💧 - pure water might not be everybody’s cup of tea (hah), but an actual cup of tea might be! if you don’t like drinking plain water, make sure to get enough of it via tea, coffee, soups…

eat vegeterian/vegan every day for a month 🥗 - if you decide to do this, make sure to get informed beforehand and see if this could cause you any health problems. if it’s safe for you, prepare to be met with a lot of advantages of this lifestyle!

no chocolate/added sugar for a month 🍫 - i had a bad habit of over-snacking on sweets, but cutting just chocolate or just added sugar led me to far healthier eating habits! you don’t have to give up both at the same time!

go to sleep early & wake up early every day for a month ⏰ - or at least get no more and no less than eight hours of sleep every night! but, for example, going to sleep at 10pm and waking up at 6am is what this challenge is aiming for.

[harrietf11]

Statistics on Spotlight

Our University Statistician, Mrs. Edwilyn Madelo-Lim discussed about Research Statistics. The following program outcomes have been exercised during this lecture: communicate effectively (PO#2) since Mrs. Lim encouraged the class to participate and asked questions during the discussion, teamwork (PO#5) because my groupmates and I shared ideas whenever Mrs. Lim would throw questions and being engaging in research (PO#4).

Last August 28, 2019 we had a Research Statistics lecture at Room 513. Statistics is of core importance when doing research and I listened eagerly to Mrs. Lim’s discussion. The topics included in her lecture were descriptive vs inferential statistics, types of data, data description, methods of data analysis, and methods of data presentation. During discussion, Mrs. Lim had a clear voice all throughout and was able to explain every slide in an understandable manner. As a wrap-up of the entire lecture, she showed research-related-situations and asked questions related to the situation to assess if we understood the topic well. Also, she let us solve for sample size using mean and standard deviation. Allowing the audience to participate is a fun-way and would let us remember the topic in the long run.

Personally, I find Mathematics hard and confusing especially when it comes to choosing the right formula to be used for a certain problem given. Statistics deals mostly with mathematical equations and a good background with Math is an advantage.

My action towards my personal dilemma is that I have to know and familiarize myself with the different formulas applicable to our Research topic. With the help of Mrs. Lim’s discussion and some other Statistics books, I think I can manage the Statistics part of Research. Along with that, I will be needing more time, dedication and patience whenever I will have difficulty in this area.

The spotlight has been focused on Statistics for the entire afternoon and I came to a conclusion that it matters the most when doing Research. Data collection, analysis, and interpretation are essential to arrive to a specific conclusion for our Research to be meaningful.  

[harrietf11]

Review of CMO 18 s 2016 and CDU VMG

CHED Memorandum Order # 18 series of 2016 has the subject “Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Doctor of Medicine Program.” The program outcomes specific to the Doctor of Medicine includes the following PO#1: demonstrate clinical competence, PO#2: communicate effectively, PO#3: lead and manage health care teams, PO#4: engage in research activities, PO#5: collaborate within interprofessional teams, PO#6: utilize systems-based approach, PO#7: engage in continuing personal and professional development, PO#8: adhere to ethical, professional and legal standards, PO#9: demonstrate nationalism and dedication to service, PO#10: practice the principles of social accountability.  

CDU-CM practices the approved CHED type of curricula: the Outcome-Based Education and Problem-Based Learning through Small Group Discussions and in my experience, I find it practical considering that we are all adult learners. Being able to share and discuss the things that I learned during the set independent study time is a good way of learning. We become efficient learners by teaching and through this can I say that I’ve understood the topics well. We are trained to become independent yet must be able to work well with our groupmates. As early as now, the spirit of camaraderie, building harmonious relationship with other (future) colleagues can be developed. PO#1 to PO#10 are essential when we enter the hospital walls to do internship and here in CDU it is being practiced since Year Level 1.

While I was studying the CHED Memorandum Order #18 series of 2016, I’ve learned and realized the other choices if I will not do further studies for Specialization. A graduate Doctor of Medicine after passing the Physician Licensure Exam can be a General Medical Practitioner as the Local Government Unit Physician, School Physician, Company/Corporate Physician, Community Physician. Also, Researcher/Medical Scientist/Innovator, Health Professions teacher, Health Administrator, Health Information Manager, Health Economist and Health Policy Maker. Qualifications of being a graduate was also discussed in the CMO #18 s 2016 and I felt the need to do good in my Academics to survive and not be debarred from this Institution.

Application of the program outcomes in daily life must be observed to fulfill the CDU VMG for me to be worthy to bear the title of Medical Doctor. Being a medical doctor is not easy and it’s a necessity to work well with a team of healthcare professionals, other government employees or other private companies.

For this activity, I was able to review the program outcomes expected of a graduate of Doctor of Medicine and the available options that I have as General Practitioner MD. The program outcomes and the vision, mission and goals of CDU are necessary in making me an effective, qualified and skilled Medical Practitioner in the near future.

[harrietf11]

A Reflection on #CDUCM and #HealthXPh TweetChat

Twitter is a social media platform used by the netizens wherein we express our thoughts and ideas. We use hashtags to connect with other people who are also talking about a specific topic. Students, professionals, experts, are on twitter and one can exchange information with them as well. Communication is possible through twitter whenever we are and whatever we do, we can always connect to other people with common interests. In this activity, PO#2 (communicate effectively), PO#4 (engage in research activities), PO#9 (nationalism and dedication to service) and PO#10 (social accountability) have been demonstrated.

Our twitter moderator, Dr. Madamba set a specific time and date for this tweetchat. I was having a meeting and activity with my CORE groupmates the moment she started the tweetchat. Good thing the place where we had our meeting has a cellular signal and we were able to join the designed topics. As I scroll through the #cducm and #healthxph, I’ve read my classmates’ tweets and they were very enthusiastic talking about their vision, mission and goals. It made me feel alleviated knowing that we are all driven and full of passion as we embark in this Medicine journey. There’s a popular saying that we should surround ourselves with positive people and I believe I’ve found my social unit. Other participants in this tweetchat were Licensed Physicians and Specialists. Reading their tweets added my knowledge about research in general.

I realized the value of today’s technology and its convenience. Learning has made possible even when we are not in the four walls of the Ampitheather. Reading and responding to my classmates’ tweets were intellectually stimulating and I find it fun in doing so.

The action needed for this tweetchat is 4P’s ~ positive mindset, planning, proper implementation and prayers. I am impressed by my batchmates’ VMG, some of us already realized the specialty to take after medicine while others (including me) are focused on solely surviving Medicine for now. In my own point of view, tweets are just words and will remain meaningless if all of it will not be given action/implementation. With the 4P’s, everything will be made possible! Words and deeds must go hand-in-hand.

My evaluation for this activity is 10/10. I congratulate Dr. Madamba for arranging this tweetchat. Even the non-medical individuals can have access to our thoughts and ideas on such topics and this will be beneficial to them as well. Almost everyone of us in my batch participated and I was able to read more insights and new ideas from my batchmates. It’s a new fun way of learning!

[harrietf11]

Small talk gone deep

MY IDOL PHYSICIAN-RESEARCHER

 An encounter of a 59 year-old female Physician, Internal Medicine specialist, sub-specializing in Pulmonology, dedicated in Research and Teaching.

It was one ordinary lunch at the cafeteria of Mactan Doctors’ Hospital, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu where I used to work as a Staff Optometrist. The cafeteria was full of people probably because I went there on a peak of lunchbreak. Almost every table were occupied. I sat on one of the table with other vacant chairs silently eating my food. Someone looked at me, smiled, and asked if the other chair in my table was occupied. I said no and that she can sit there if she wanted to. We had a small talk and later on I found out that her name is Dr. Debbie Ong-Abdul, an Internal Medicine physician sub-specializing in Pulmonology. As our talk continued, we reached the profound topics such as current events and our personal lives. There was this point wherein Dr. Debbie had a very passionate manner of speaking and it was all with regards to Research. I can see the willingness in her eyes the moment she talked about it. She encouraged me to engage into Research because according to her the younger generations seemed not interested to Research anymore.

Through her clinic secretary, I asked for a permission to have personal interview for this particular Case Study. Medical Technology was her Pre-Medical course, took and passed the Medical technology Licensure Examinations on 1981. She finished the Degree Doctor of Medicine at the Cebu Institute of Medicine year 1986, took and passed the Physician Licensure Examination on the same year.

She used to be the Research Coordinator and Mentor at the Cebu Doctors’ University College of Medicine from year 2004-2015. I realized that moment that passion never really dies within you even when you are no longer connected to the Institution. Her dedication and commitment towards Research and teaching can be seen until now.

In another aspect, Doctor Debbie also fought a good fight with Breast Cancer and was able to defeat the cruel disease. “As long as the sun rises there is still hope”, said Dr. Debbie. I admired her courage and faith after knowing what she went through.

With so much hate, jealousy, negativity, insecurities and laziness in this modern world, I felt grateful and blessed to have known Dr. Debbie in my entire career as Optometrist in a Hospital. She’s the Physician-Researcher that I look-up-to because of her intellect, kindness, courage, dedication, friendliness, thoughtfulness and unselfishly shares knowledge/ideas without reservations.

A thought to ponder for me after our lunchtime conversation, “Are the youth really not willing to do research anymore? What will happen in the next 10 years if nobody else will be interested on it?”

Takeaway message for the readers of my blog: Keep on inspiring other people, spread kindness in your workplace or in school because you may bring a huge impact in other people’s lives.

  .

[harrietf11]

How does your VMG align with CDU VMG?

My personal vision, mission and goals align with the Cebu Doctors’ University College of Medicine’s vision, mission and goals in a way that they are all interrelated with each other. After all, I aspire to become a physician not for prestige and status, but for service and compassion. In order to achieve that, I must keep in mind and heart the goals set by the school to make the dream of becoming a competent Physician into a reality.

[harrietf11]

Personal Vision, Mission, Goals

VISION

A licensed physician working in a rural area equipped with unceasing passion to serve the people starting year 2024.

MISSION

My mission as a student is to commit to my studies and be a responsible individual. In this journey, I aspire to keep in track with my time management plan and be able to finish the tasks on time without being burnt-out.  

GOALS

To be able to instill in mind that medicine requires commitment.

To develop the right attitude and mindset needed as a student which will soon be helpful in my future practice.

To be able to understand the discussions and apply it in real life scenario.

To create a harmonious relationship with groupmates, batchmates, faculty and staff of the College of Medicine so that this journey will be memorable.

To be able to express myself and develop my communication skills as these qualities are needed in a Physician.

To continue fighting despite the hardships that I might face and to never give up along the way.

[harrietf11]

Here’s a selfie reminding everyone to value your eyesight by simply wearing sunglasses. As an Optometrist, I am fond of promoting protection of eyes from harmful UV radiation and other foreign bodies.

[harrietf11]

Question Answered

The frequently asked question to me lately is that~ why am I currently taking up Medicine despite having a Doctoral degree already? For 6 grueling years, I studied Optometry at Cebu Doctors’ University, took and passed the Licensure Examination for Optometrists.

Being of service to my fellowmen especially to the underprivileged is one of my heart’s desire. After becoming a full-pledged Optometrist, I worked at the Eye Referral Center, Laser and Eye Bank of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and at the same time a Staff Optometrist at the Larrazabal Eye Group, Mactan Doctors’ Hospital, also a part-time Clinical Instructor of Cebu Doctors’ University College of Optometry.

The greatest motivator why I chose Medicine is my family who also devoted themselves into public service by being part of a Healthcare Team in my beloved hometown. I grew up in a small town (Claveria, Masbate) in Bicol Region, wherein there’s only 2 government employed Physicians for the whole town, no private practitioners and people don’t have access to quality Healthcare. At a young age, I became aware of the disappointing system. That fact alone drives me to commit to my passion of becoming a Physician someday. My vocation will not end as an Optometrist, but also a Physician as well for me to be able to address more health concerns in the community.  

Whenever people ask me why Medicine, I just smile towards them and give them a superficial answer, but deep inside I know it’s always “for the love of my country and for the greater glory of God”.