An Open Letter to the Graduates of CIM Class 2011

I am publishing today an open letter by my fellow faculty in Cebu Institute of Medicine (CIM) Batch 2011 who will graduate this afternoon. Like him, I think the rest of the CIM Faculty wish you all well as you go to the next stage of your profession. It reads:

April 26, 2011

To all my dear students of CIM Class 2011:

Today, I wish you all the best as you celebrate this significant milestone in your life as medical students of the Cebu Institute of Medicine, the school that made us all what we are today.  

As you look back to your medical student days at CIM, give time to pause and ponder and realize that it is only in looking back that we come to appreciate and put value to what we have gone through, to what we have done, to what we have achieved, and be happy about it.

Be one as you look back to the agony and ecstasy of the medical student life, the trials and tribulations, the challenges, the joy, the fun, and those seasons in the sun. But most of all, thank God Almighty for giving you the privilege of finally finishing your M.D. degree. To God be the glory.

Congratulations to all of you as you graduate. I join you in this celebration of a lifetime. Godspeed.


Sincerely yours,

Henry L. Yu, M.D.


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I would like to add to this letter, my wish for these graduates.


I wish for them to stay humble and grounded. Respect your colleagues in the hospital including nurses, medical technologists, nursing aides and all other staff. Being a doctor does not give you a right to treat others like they are not professionals. The doctor and other health professionals form a team.


Do not stop studying and learning. It doesn't mean that you are a doctor that you know everything. You can learn even from patients and from other health professionals around you. Keep on reading, stay up to date with medical knowledge.
Grab every learning opportunity. Go with the consultants during rounds. Learn from the rounds. Interact with patients. 


With that said, grab every opportunity where you can assess the patient yourself and do not rely on text message descriptions of others. Look at it as developing your clinical eye. Be a hands-on trainee.


And lastly, continue to pray to the Lord for guidance. For He is the Healer and the source of all and we are just His instruments.


Happy Graduation and congratulations!


Cebu MD