AN OPEN LETTER TO CIM CLASS 2010

To my dear fellow doctors and colleagues,

 

Congratulations to all of you for passing the August 2011 medical board exam. Thank you for bringing honor to CIM in continuing to propagate the name and living up to the legend of our alma mater. This is indeed one such great achievement - a pride of kith and kin – mom and dad, brothers and sisters, lolo and lola, uncles and aunties, cousins, as well as teachers, classmates, friends and all the significant others. 

At this point in time, I’m sure you are at a crossroad, facing the challenges of what lies ahead. Yes, the feeling of having passed the medical board exam is indeed indescribably exciting as it is overwhelmingly exhilarating for you to jump with joy because, at long last, you will now have the license to practice medicine, with an M.D. after your name. I’m sure too that a series of thanksgiving parties will be tendered and congratulatory ads will occupy not a few pages of the newspapers. Indeed, this is one great moment that calls for a celebration like no other.

Like you, 32 years ago, I was also at a crossroad after passing the medical board exam, not knowing what lay ahead. Would I have my residency training in Cebu or Manila or the U.S.? What field of specialization would I go into? So many questions. So many challenges. 

After all that has been said and done, be it as it may, at the end of the day, there’s only one thing we all should be or try to become: PHYSICIANS WITH A HEART.  

 

Congratulations once again. I join you in this penultimate joy of passing the medical board exam. To God be the glory and honor. Forevermore.

 

 

Very truly yours,

 

 

Henry L. Yu, M.D.

Dr. Henry Yu is a writer-contributor for a local newspaper and is a CIM alumnus and faculty member. 

Velezian Alumni Event Alert: General Assembly for Medtech Alumni

Velezians Inc. and Velez College Medical Technologists Alumni Association (VMTAA) cordially invites Velez College Medical Technology Alumni to a General Assembly with Scientific Lecture on July 9, 2011 from 2:00 to 5:00 PM at the Cebu Institute of Medicine Amphitheater 1.

There will be NO registration fees.

The Scientific Lecture will be on Tumor Markers by Dr. Ellie May B. Villegas.

There will also be an Election of Officers which will be crucial since the Global Velezian Medtech Class Reunion in Cebu City will be held early next year around the month of January.

There is an ongoing poll on the date when the said reunion will be held in Cebu at Velez College BSMT Facebook group page.

CIM SSC Officers for Schoolyear 2011-2012

As Cebu Institute of Medicine (CIM) prepares to host this schoolyear's APMC Annual Convention, the new set of CIM SSC Officers will be very important.

Announcing their new set of Student Council officers:

• President: Joseph Brian Costiniano
• Vice-President: Francis Tulod
• Secretary: Kara A. Mendoza
• Treasurer: Jo Anne Liao
• Public Relations Officer: Ricca Cortes
• Year Representatives:
• First Year: Bea Calderon
• Second Year: Jose Orlanda
• Third Year: Maximo Arnado Jr.

Congratulations! The students are counting on you to do a good job.

Chicken to the Max with Max's Chicken All-You-Can

Due to the clamor for this promo, Max's Restaurant is bringing back its Chicken All-You-Can Promo in Cebu from June 10 to July 10, 2011 from 6 PM to 10 PM for P199. Fried chicken lovers out there can satisfy their craving for their "sarap-to-the-bones" chicken that comes with an ice-cold glass of any Pepsi product drink which can be upgraded to bottomless drink for only P28. All that remains to be ordered is the rice.

We were fortunate enough to experience the Chicken All-You-Can promo complete with a dance performance by Max's SM Cebu employees to signal the start of the promo. Every 6 PM, a similar show-stopping performance will highlight the start of the promo each day.

Then, it was Chicken to the Max when and where one could have all the chicken he can consume. "Makabuang!"

As a bonus, Max's is also giving away P20 coupons for every P200 spent during the Promo. The coupon can be used to buy any Max's products within a year after issuance such as the assorted polvoron and the other sweet delicacies and pastries of Max's.

You can log on to Max's website and Max's Facebook fan page and be a member of their Fan page.

Students, if you are looking for a different eat-all-you-can, you may try Max's which is proudly Filipino.

Max's Restaurant has branches in Cebu at the 3rd Floor of SM City Cebu as well as in the Ayala Center Cebu.

Factors to Consider in Choosing A Medical School

It is known that choosing a medical school is a difficult decision to make as there are many factors to be considered. Many would ask what are the important factors that should be considered in choosing a medical school?

One such factor to be considered is the reputation of the medical school. How are the graduates of a prospective school doing in their respective field or specialty? Are they also getting accepted as residents or trainees in prestigious hospitals or institutions? What is the performance of its graduates overall in the physician licensure or board exams? Does the school have a high passing percentage in these board exams? What is the medical school ranking in the board exams? What are the top medical schools in terms of board exam performance? What is the reputation of the school in terms of research? Information regarding board exam performance of recent years can easily be searched in the web while information regarding research can be obtained in the websites of the respective medical schools. It is also suggested to research other information from other independent sources.

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.


****
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

Preparation Required for Graduate School

Enrolling in graduate school should not be done by impulse for it requires preparation.

Graduate schooling will eat some time so one has to make sure he would be able to devote time not only for the classes but also time to attend to the demands of the course. This is especially true for those with jobs or a family.

In graduate school, the pace is much faster as it is assumed that the student already knows the basics of what he or she is mastering. Expect also research work.

Financially, one also has to be prepared because at this stage, it is not already the parents who are paying for your tuition but most likely the student himself or herself.

Graduate schools have different requirements. There are required entrance exams or admissions test.

Business school admission committees (especially in the United States) for example, require applicants to take a GMAT or Graduate Management Admissions Test. Unlike other tests, one cannot skip on a difficult problem and just decide to return to that difficult item after answering the easy ones. It is therefore recommended for a student to have GMAT Practice Tests before taking the real thing.

For medical schools, the counterpart is the MCAT or Medical College Admissions Test, a standardized exam designed to measure one's aptitude for a future medical career. In the Philippines, the NMAT (National Medical Admissions Test) acts as an NMAT and certain Philippine medical schools set varying cutoff requirements in order to be admitted to their respective schools.

Law Schools have the LSAT, Dental Schools the DAT and other Graduate schools have the GRE or Graduate Record Exam.

Be sure to inquire about what exams are required in the graduate course that you are taking.

You might decide to take review courses or take practice tests as mentioned. These tests may be provided by various organizations or review schools to help ensure success in taking these major or elite tests.

Expect also for interviews to be conducted on you by the graduate school officials. The prospective student must be able to calm his nerves while going through this process.

If you really are determined to undergo graduate studies for a brighter future and you are really prepared, I don't see any reason why you should fear going through these entrance tests and other entry requirements. Good luck!