Being an MD always requires some form of giving up of one's self. People easily resonate with the flashy ones like the "heroic front liner". However, the unheralded ones are as (more) important. A good example is connecting w/ the pt when the CC is "pasma", "usog" o "binat".

At its core, this recent "twitter incident" is one of empathy and compassion which are hallmarks of community-oriented medical education/training. I hope this reminds all of us; aspiring MDs, younger colleagues, peers and even seniors/mentors; to be mindful and wary of...

the systematic erosion of our "Whys" of being a physician ("para sa bayan", "for the underserved", "magis-for-others", "for God and country", etc), given the "hidden curriculum" of our current med education/training programs...

True patient-centered and community-oriented practice takes humility and courage. Humility to acknowledge that we HCWs do not know everything. Courage to acknowledge that beyond the biomedical, the healing is mostly up to the patient/the community...

We have NO RIGHT to invalidate, belittle or dismiss what we cannot control or do not understand. The asymmetry of power in the MD-patient dynamic is bad enough as it is. We do have the DUTY however, to always try our best to ENGAGE our patients on their terms. Padayon!!!