What do you love?

It was one Saturday evening when a young friend directed me to an interesting TedX video on Dr Winlove Mojica, Medicine in Media, and I was pleasantly surprised because he was my batchmate in UP-PGH, a good friend and a staunch HIV advocate in the Philippines.  Watching a video 21 minutes long when you have resident examinations to finish is indicative of how wonderful and entertaining his lecture was.  Winlove made me reflect his question "what do you love?"  True enough, in medicine it was keeping in touch with my "WHYs" that helped me survive the rigors of medical school.  Since then, I've come a long way to find my own niche in life.  I am an obstetrician-gynecologist for people living with HIV, and it is my life goal to prevent transmission of HIV infection among the youth, among those who are pregnant, and among their unborn children, and to provide support to children in need of special attention, to help them rise above their beginnings.  It was also when I began to be involved in work projects in Cebu that I realized "there is a reason for everything..."

I took up BS Agricultural Chemistry in college, and I realize that I would still be able to fulfill my dream of living on a hectare patch of farmland, south of Cebu, to de-stress and to disconnect when necessary.

I became a doctor because I wanted to "serve the people".  True to my purpose, I am more of a government physician than private practitioner.  I serve the women of Cebu at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

I finished my fellowship in infectious diseases and master's degree in public health.  This helps me in my efforts to improve the HIV treatment hub and in pushing for reforms in health service delivery for people living with HIV with the support of the HIV/AIDS core team, the staff of the DOH CHD7 HIV Program and the HIV Service Delivery Network.