The Speech

Last Friday April 29, 2011 was our graduation ceremony for the Post Graduates of VSMMC Batch 2011. I was chosen as the Most Outstanding PGI of 2011 and with this power comes the responsibility to speak in front of the crowd (0f course) like a valedictory speech. These are the five realizations I had from this experience.

1.) It's hard to make a speech that's both touching and funny.
2.) I need to have a refresher course in Speech 101
3.) I am not as shy as I used to be when it comes to public speaking
4.) Pop culture references always work
5.) And nothing beats writing from the heart instead of trying to impress people of how excellent your command is of the English language.

I am posting a copy of this speech here because it is career defining. It's either it might be the first of plenty speeches to come or the last one that I will ever make in my career. It was overwhelming and I will always cherish the moment. And I think I had a pretty good feedback.

Here it is:

Members of the Execom, Department Chairs, Distinguished Guests, Residents, Parents, Relatives, Fellow Post Graduate Interns and everyone else who has graced us with their presence today, a pleasant afternoon to all. Today we cap another milestone in our journey in becoming doctors. After one year which can be summarized briefly into three categories: duty, previous and preduty, the time has come for us to move forward and continue the long and bumpy ride towards making a mark in the world of medicine. Now, before proceeding to the next step, we are given this day to commemorate the completion of our post graduate internship and all our achievements both major and minor, happenings and experiences for the past twelve months that have shaped us and molded us into new and improved medical practitioners.

When I was told that I will have to make a speech today, my anxiety level went up. I have not had the pleasure of having to go on stage and deliver an address on such an important day as today. In short I do not have a lot of experience in public speaking. I admit, I attempted to google my way out of the problem because it is really hard to make a speech that is both worthy and touching. But then I realized that this is a superb honor and finding a rip off copy from the Internet would demean the importance of this event. So I logged off and then I wrote and typed from the heart. So ladies and gentlemen, this speech is as meaningful as it gets because it is written as spontaneously and as thoughtful.

Originally I was matched to a different hospital for my post graduate internship. I did consider Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center as one of my options but initially I had qualms and misgivings on whether I have the vigor and the capability to survive 365 days of heavy workload and toil, so I wrote another institution in my application instead. During my Surgery Out Rotation in this hospital in my medical internship, I realized that I will miss out on the opportunity to be able to handle and manage cases autonomously, witness different interesting cases and improve clinical judgment. That faithful month I changed my mind and I have never regretted it since. And thank you to the Training Office of VSMMC for accepting me.

A typical 24 hour duty in VSMMC is action packed, usually frantic and chaotic around once or twice a week. If I were to describe what it is really like in two words: I would say fast and furious. Time indeed flies fast as you might not notice that you have not yet taken your lunch at 4 in the afternoon and furious, oh well I wouldn’t want to elaborate on this but just let me say that sometimes our tempers get the best of us and will allow others to see the worst of us – especially if we are running on an empty stomach. We encountered different diseases some presenting as what the textbooks have taught us others exhibit quite atypically so. Some ailments we have seen for the first time and are more common than we have thought and some maladies are regular customers of the hospital. Blood, sweat and tears are customary occurences in the emergency room. But no matter how frenzied it can get and how wild we look after on previous status – disheveled hair, oil rigged face, drenched in sweat, gurgling bowel sounds, full bladder and rectum – the bulk of our recollections are found from our time in the ER. We will never forget the thrill of our first intubation and inserting it correctly and realizing that though the trachea and esophagus are in close proximity yet it can be very hard to differentiate because they both look like holes, the exhilaration of doing a new procedure from thoracentesis, paracentesis, CTT insertion that will become eventually countless, the privilege of getting to see an exceptional case are the little things that fuel us to persist.

For this year the graduating post graduate interns are only a dozen. We might be known in the history of this hospital as the smallest number of PGIs ever. The fact that we are only twelve and have survived the demands and drudgery makes us hardcore. I dare say so! We are super heroes in our own right for enduring what we had to go through for the past year. We have different personalities but still we managed to make bonds, created new friendships and have got to know each other during our little breaks from duty or just hanging around in the triage area once in a while when we were fortunate enough not to be busy on a particular duty. I’ve always looked forward to our Friday Reviews, I call it Friday Catch Up Day because it is the only time that we are complete for three hours every week and that time our love for eating is evident. And I will never forget our parties and get togethers from the planned to ones decided on impulse, from our acquaintance party to our Christmas party, our photo shoot and all those days we were excused from duty. I always have a good time every time we hanged out and just talked about random things, medical or non medical. We are a diverse group from our ages, family backgrounds, interests and hobbies but we cohesively gel into one group that works harmoniously. Each person brings something unique to the table and each post graduate intern taught me something from his or her perspective. I hope I have also left something to each one of you from my prerogatives and viewpoint.

The past year was full of learning. From mastering reading ECGs and to extending our patience, stretching it a long as a rubber band about to snap, we cannot deny the fact that after spending 24 hours in the emergency room or eight hours in the outpatient department, we have carried something from each patient we examined and from the people we worked with – our residents and superiors. I have learned from every experience I had from pediatric IV insertions, diagnosing appendicitis, deciding which patients should be in the subcritical area, doing IEs on women about to deliver any time then “shopping” in the pharmacy for Caesarian sections and trying to tranquilize manic and aggresive patients. Each one contributed to growth and development of becoming a physician. And I’m sure it is the same for you as it was for me, my fellow PGIs.

One important thing I have overcome is fear of mismanagement. As an intern and a medical student I am extremely afraid of commiting such. But after my stint here in VSMMC armed with knowledge, skills and trappings given to me by the residents I am self-assured this time around. But I have to contradict that having that fear is also beneficial. Let me share to you this quote I can completely relate to from watching five seasons of the medical show “Scrubs”. “Fear is good. It keeps you from becoming a crappy doctor. Trick is you just can't let it paralyze you”. It is good to be petrified of mishandling patients because it will serve as your reality check that you always have to try your best in every case you come across but you should not let it affect and get in the way of acquiring knowledge for self-enhancement. If you keep a certain level of “fear” in treating patients it makes you empathize with the patient and show compassion and care. In the end, no matter how theatrical a medical drama can be - the well groomed doctors at all times even in the middle of the night, dramatic background music every time a character dies and from the gripping storylines – still nothing can beat what real life has to offer. Reality is a very powerful teacher and having the dispensation of working in VSMMC for a year has showed me that.

J.K. Rowling once said that “You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity”. I think this is great to live by regarding dealing with failure. The strength of a person is not measured on his achievements and accomplishments but on how he musters the determination to stand up and continue. The wisdom that has come into view that made us stronger from these stumbling blocks will make us resilient and flexible for many more setbacks to come. These two ideas basically summarize my experience.

Now is the time here in this speech to thank the amazing people behind our transformations. First of all I would like to thank my parents for their wonderful support both emotionally and financially, love after all these years. Ma and Pa, I can never thank you enough. To my fellow PGIs, I am grateful for the memories we had for the past twelve months and for always making me laugh after a hard day’s night. We will always be hardcore no matter what and we are rockstars. So rock on!

I kindly ask everyone here in the audience to give a round of applause to all our parents for the never ending affection, support and for being with us every step of the way and our relatives who share this moment with us.

In behalf of the graduates, I would like to thank Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, first and foremost for accepting all of us to your post graduate internship program and to the training office and administration for hearing us out always and supporting us every time we needed it. To the medical staff, to the department chairs and residents of every department thank you to the knowledge you have imparted to us and for exhibiting the value of perseverance ,never failing to check up on us, for always having our backs and letting us have our meals first despite the fact that you guys haven’t had breakfast, lunch and dinner. We will always cherish those times we had spent with you and we will never overlook the generosity and symphathy you have demonstrated by example and instilling in us the value of confidence. To the nurses, laboratory technicians, IWs, radiologists and other workers in this institution, thank you for being with us every step of the way as we managed our patients and showing us the values of camaraderie, solidarity and amity. To the dietary service for feeding us and keeping us satiated with low salt low fat and low cholesterol diet. To Dr. Annabelle Fuentes, our PGI adviser for being patient with us almost always. Thank you for the guidance. And to every one else whom I might forget and to every one who has contributed to this accomplishment. A million thanks. You know who you are.

Watching the Spider-man trilogy over and over again, I have appreciated this quote uttered by Uncle Ben to Peter Parker: “With great power comes great responsibility”. Being a doctor trained by VSMMC is a brilliant chance and I am very grateful for this honour. I will make sure that I will always be responsible, conscientious, sensible when practicing medicine and to my fellow graduates hoping we will maintain our work ethics, do not let success and praise get into our heads and to keep our feet firmly planted on the ground at all times. Remember arrogance, so not cool! May the force be with us all!

Albert Christian C. Borbon

Batch 2011

The Top 3 Post Graduate Interns for 2011

The Graduates with Dr. Celine Aquino, our brilliant keynote speaker, one of the top cardiologists in Cebu who also had her training in VSMMC for her PGIship and Residency.


The Tough 12 - My Fellow PGIs