By Dr. Japhet G. Fernandez de Leon
2022 Most Outstanding Physician of the Year Awardee by the Philippine Medical Association

This Commencement Address was delivered during the 16th Commencement Exercises of the College of Medicine last July 27, 2022.

The College of Medicine Commencement Exercises speaker, Dr. Japhet G. Fernandez de Leon with the CPU Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr. Elmer Q. Pedregosa.

Dr. Teodoro Robles, President, Central Philippine University, CPUAAI President Dr. Florentino Alerta who is represented by VP Pastor Neil Jalando-on, Asst. Registrar Mrs. Emerald Joy Perucho, Dean Henry Gonzales, Associate Dean Dr. Diadem pearl Equina, colleagues & fellow faculty members, graduating class of 2022, parents, grandparents, loved ones and friends, good afternoon.

Thank you very much for the introduction, Dr. Charity Catamora. It is an honor to be chosen as the commencement speaker this afternoon. Although when Dean Henry Gonzales called me up, I asked, “why me?” But how can I refuse the Dean? So I will be wearing a different hat this afternoon and I hope I can do justice to the invitation.

Let me share with you my own journey as a young college graduate hoping to become a doctor 39 years ago (we will be celebrating our 40th in 2023). WVSU College of Medicine was a young COM then and was the first in the region. I had hopes of entering the UP COM but it was not meant to be. So I and my classmates became the fifth batch of graduates of WVSUCOM. After passing the board examination and 6 months of “rural practice”, I was accepted at UP-PGH Medical Center to become a resident-physician trainee at the Department of Psychiatry. Back then, specialization in Psychiatry was likened to be one of the patients – such was the stigma associated with mental illness. But my late parents, God bless their souls, did not question my choice and allowed me to soar and pursue my dreams. After three years of residency training in Psychiatry, I subspecialized in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, a subspecialty unheard of since I was the first in region 6 to have this subspecialty. Questions associated with the subspecialty were numerous, some of which were: “why child psych? Ano, bata pa, buang na?” It took time and patience to educate people about mental health and mental illness, which we are doing up to this time and to emphasize that mental health is an integral part of health. As the World Health Organization has declared that there can be “no health without mental health.” But mind you, taking care of children’s mental health is both challenging and rewarding. To date, there are still less than 75 child and adolescent psychiatrists nationwide and I hope many of you will become one of us.

The experiences of being educated by the Filipino people (college education and medical degree at WVSU and residency and fellowship training at UPPGH) have influenced me to give back by staying in the Philippines and coming back to Iloilo to practice my profession and to teach at the College of Medicine. I first taught at WVSUCOM, then at IDCOM, and became one of the core faculty members at the CPUCOM when the university decided to pursue their own vision of finally opening up a college of medicine. And the rest is history – you are now the 16th batch of graduating students.

Four years ago when we interviewed you and asked “why Medicine?” Many of your answers were “it has always been my lifelong dream to become a doctor”; “to serve the Filipino people”; many were candid when they answered “there is prestige associated with the profession.” I am glad nobody answered “to become rich”, because if that is your motive, then you are in the wrong profession. When you were asked further “why CPU?” The standard answer was “it is offering quality education at a lower cost compared with schools in Manila”. Others answered, “my parents or family members are Centralians.” Again, others were more forthright and said “CPU is my second choice since I was not accepted at West.” And I hope you have no regrets. We know that all things happen for a reason.

As you pursued your four years of medical education, you have been exposed to numerous challenges: from lack of sleep because of the numerous chapters you have to read in order to pass Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Histology, Pathology, Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, OB-Gyne, among others; to lack of time for your social and love life, including family reunions because you have to study and submit requirements; to passing up on your hobbies and the things you loved to do because you have to prioritize your studies. But you persevered – even during the time of the pandemic. I remembered asking one of you during a lecture, just before we had the lockdown if you are still going to pursue becoming a physician with the threat of a pandemic – and the answer was a straight-forward YES. So you have become pandemic babies too, with the lectures done online, and limited face to face clerkship. The comprehensive exams became a challenge too, with some examinations postponed because some of you were quarantined or isolated. I hope that your clinical skills will be enriched when you become Post-graduate Interns, praying that your rotation will be more face-to-face.

The tenacity and resilience you have shown are admirable characteristics that can help you achieve to become a Five-Star Physician. In 1993, the WHO designed the 5-Star Physician Profile – a doctor who assesses and improves the quality of care (Care Provider), makes optimal use of new technologies (Decision-Maker), promotes healthy lifestyles (Communicator), reconciles individual and community health requirements (Community Leader), and works efficiently in teams (Manager). In other words, if you look at your hand, the five fingers will represent what a 5-star Physician is: a Care Provider, Decision-maker, Communicator, Community leader, and Manager. This profile was thought of as a strategy for medical schools to produce such kinds of physicians to contribute to health care reforms. The profile consisted of a mix of aptitudes to carry out a range of services to meet the requirements of relevance, quality cost-effectiveness, and equity of care. In other words, the physician has to be Holistic having at least 5 attributes or performing at least 5 roles: as a clinician, manager, researcher, educator and social mobilizer (community health problem solver).

So how are you going to monitor if you have achieved this? It entails self-monitoring and use of key performance indicators for each role or attribute. It is a process which will be different for each one of you, depending upon the goals that you have set for yourself which started in first year. Achieving the five stars will entail challenges along the way: but like the perseverance and tenacity you have shown amidst the pandemic, I’m pretty sure all of you will be able to achieve this. As you set forth to go on your respective journeys, never forget to take care of yourselves: health care workers have the tendency to forget themselves and have to be reminded. Mindful self-compassion is important and will make all of us better health care workers and more compassionate human beings.

My dear graduates, may the Holy Spirit guide you in achieving your dreams to become a five-star physician. A “Magaling na Doktor, Mabuting Doktor”.

Congratulations and God bless us all.