Book Review: Surgeons Do Not Cry by Ting Tiongco

 

I do not find a lot of books telling stories about their lives as a medical student or a doctor so the moment I found out about this book, it went automatically to my 'to-read' books list. Mostly of stories told by medical practitioners are found online in a form of a blog, a vlog but rarely do I find printed books about it. 

Being too eager to grab my copy, I searched for it everywhere, online, at the Solidaridad book shop in Ermita, even in Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) but I got my copy from the University of the Philippines (UP) Press in UP Diliman campus which is the publisher of the said book. The book cost at 200 pesos from the UP Press (which I believe has a branch now in UP Town Center in Katipunan). In the MIBF, the book is less 50 pesos making the cost of the book at 150 pesos. I can say that it is not pricey for a book and the content is really good. Quality paper, cover and print too so it is a very good buy for me. I personally like the last part which are just extra stories for the book. These are the speeches made by Dr. Tiongco when he was asked to be as a guest speaker in graduations. Reading these speeches really inspired me and hit a soft spot in my heart.

The book cover is quite simple which I like. It has a minimalist design and the book is not too thick. It has 167 pages, 37 real life short stories and 4 annexes in total. The book talks about the experiences that actually happened to the author from his medical education at UP College of Medicine, development as a doctor to a surgeon in UP-PGH (Philippine General Hospital).

I enjoyed reading the book because it is just a bit of everything, really short stories. If you continuously read the book, it can be finished in a day or two but in my case, what I did was to read 1-3 stories per day as I want to enjoy and savor the moments experienced by the author. The stories are short (1-2 or 3 pages) which sometimes make me ask for more. My personal favorites are God Forgives..., Tears of Anger Tears of Joy, Kissing Rounds, and Major Joe.

I learned a lot from this book on what could be experienced in the hospital especially under UP-PGH compound which is mostly if not all, the setting of the stories. For someone who aims to go to UP-PGH to train and practice medicine, like me, this book will definitely help you have a glimpse of what happens inside the largest government hospital in the Philippines. The stories will inspire you, make you laugh and give you a background about medicine, politics, the UP-PGH itself and real life stories that an aspiring and even doctors experience on a day-to-day scenario.

Now, I'm actually waiting for another book to be released by next year (2019) entitled Some Days You Can't Save Them All. it is written by Dr. Ron Baticulon, another UP Medicine alumnus and a Palanca winner for the same titled essay.  I will definitely make a book review about it once it is released and I hope to get my copy signed too. 

I am recommending you to read this book because it is full of heart, experiences and stories which will definitely to remember. I hope this content inspires you and help you towards our goal of becoming a doctor in the Philippines.

PLM Series: The College of Medicine Interview

This is the third part of my PLM Series, if you haven't read the first 2 blogs about PLM College of Medicine, below are the quick links and I would suggest you to read these first.

1.PLM Series: Applying to PLM College of Medicine

2.PLM Series: Braving the MCAT

You are now on the third and more crucial part of the application process of your target medical school, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila College of Medicine (PLM CM) which is the interview process. As mentioned, the MCAT is always scheduled on a Sunday and the interview process starts the next day (Monday) so better keep your game face on as you continue to battle on the PLM CM application journey.

What to wear: Just wear your smart casual to semi formal outfit. No need to wear coat or anything like too formal for a medical school interview. Just wear something you are comfortable with yet decent. Just be you.

How to prepare for the interview: Know your schedule, practice interview etiquette and research or ask around what are the commonly asked questions in a medical school interview. Personally, what I did is I wrote the common questions asked and the possible questions to be asked in a small notebook and answer them one by one - written and orally, again and again. This will serve as your practice and this worked perfectly for me. I believe I nailed the interview part with this technique as I sounded confident and know what am I talking about. But be careful during the interview to still sound natural and genuine and not rehearsed.

The list of the students for interview are posted in the medicine building and re-posted online by PLM CM's student organizations (a.k.a. fraternities and sororities), the interview is held everyday from 8 AM and 10 AM in the morning and another schedule in the afternoon. In every schedule there are 8-10 applicants which have the same schedule as you so better come early as the interview will go on a first come, first serve basis. Once you're at PLM CM dean's office, fill the attendance sheet in the front desk which will determine your turn in the interview flow. 

As said, come early as you'll be asked to fill an application form, answer a 3-5 psychological  questions and write an essay answering a question. During my application, the question asked is "Why should PLM accept/choose you?". This is done while you are waiting to be called to get interviewed.

The interviewers are the department heads of the different fields of medicine in PLM and even the dean herself will conduct your interview. The interview varies from the interviewer, they do not have a standard set of questions or format followed when doing the interview. Some interviewers will just ask you 3 questions and your done while others will ask a lot of questions which will I discuss as we go on. The setting is on a one on one, conversational set up and not a panel interview. The interview also happens simultaneously  so I must say that 'luck' plays a role on which interviewer you'll be assigned to. I heard a story from one applicant which was assigned to the interviewer who asked her only 3 questions, "What's your NMAT rank?" "What's your GWA?" and "What's your undergrad course?" and that's it. Imagine, her interview points will just be based on these 3 questions and she's not given a chance to prove herself more on other aspects. It is sad but it happened.

Some of the pointers for the interview given by the fraternities after MCAT are as follows: Prepare a 5-minute monologue about yourself when you are asked the classic interview question "Tell me something about yourself.". As I've mentioned above, there's a 150-word essay before the interview so I cannot emphasize this more, be early! Make sure to revolve your essay around the community and not just about yourself. PLM is a very community oriented and based medical school so it is plus points for  them if they saw that you care about the community like return service, becoming a doctor to the barrio and serving the underserved Filipino people. Also, this is an unusual question I encountered in PLM, only PLM CM (from my experience) asked questions about my college thesis so make sure to know your thesis by heart. Treat this like a mini defense and also site the obstacles you've encountered and how you overcome them. Lastly, make sure to read and familiarize yourself with the latest news around you especially news related to the health sector like Dengvaxia, Universal Healthcare Bill and some DOH programs.

Below are some of the questions (I can recall) asked to me during my interview with PLM CM:

1. What's your NMAT %ile?
2. What's your GWA?
3. Tell me something about yourself. *classic medical school interview question*
4. Why do you want to be in PLM?
5. As a scholar of Manila, after graduation, you will be asked to render some form of community service to the city, would that be okay with you?
6. Why do you want to be a doctor? *classic medical school interview question*
7. What if PLM did not accept you, what are your plans? *tricky question*
8. Have you experienced working under pressure? State your experience.
9. How do you handle that? *referring to number 7*
10. Tell me about your college thesis? What are your findings? What obstacles did you encounter? How did you address that?
11. How do you cope with stress?
12. Did you apply to other medical schools? What are your status there?
13. Who will pay for your tuition? What are your parents job?
14. What if the payer of your tuition suddenly dies, how will you continue to pay for your medical school fees? *tricky question*
15. Why should we choose you? What are your advantages over other applicants?

After, the interviewer will ask you if you have any questions for him/her, make sure to ask any question that tickled your mind as this will show that you are serious and really interested in getting into their medical school. Before you leave, do not forget to shake the hand of your interviewer and say 'thank you' for the time and the interview, this will definitely leave mark on them.

Remember that the interview will be the last part of your application process as well as your impression to the admissions committee so make sure to make it count and make a pitch on your application. The next time you'll come back to the dean's office is during the confirmation of slots happening in June. Yes, the wait is that long. PLM is really a battle on who is the most patient applicant to wait several months for the list of accepted applicants.

Since the interview is over, please treat yourself with good food or anything that will make you happy for your hard work all this application process. Always remember that you deserve a pat on the back for a job well done. All you can do now is pray and hope that you made it to the golden list of accepted applicants of the medical school of your dreams. Good luck!

I hope this content help you one way or another. Feel free to comment down if you have questions in mind. Thank you.

Disclaimer: The author is not in any way related/connected to the admissions office of PLM CM. This post is only based on personal experience of the author.