While it has been an usual year for this year’s physicians board examination, the Cebu Institute of Medicine remains strong and relevant by remaining as one of the best medical schools in the Philippines. However, the challenges and repercussions of this year’s PLE has been near-tangible nationwide. More than the school, this year’s examinees (batch Spectra), has first hand felt the overwhelming pressure of this endeavor. This short essay by Dr. Kaira Monique Osmeña a gives you a perspective of their salty, bitter, and sweet journey towards achieving their dreams.
“Since the end of our PGI year, my batch had only around 2 months without hospital duty to prepare for the September 2018 PLE. This meant studying everyday, for more than 10 hours at a time. How does one get back to this routine after being in the hospital for 2 years straight? That was a challenge that we had to overcome quickly. The days came and went by quickly. Soon, we were down to the last month, week, days, before the first day of exams. “Where did the time go?”, we would collectively ask. The first weekend came and went. One more weekend to go and we would be done; but, another surprise came for Spectra – the postponement of the second set of exams. This came along with so many repercussions. While we were concerned about the welfare of our future colleagues in the places where the storm would hit most hardly, we also had a hard time keeping our study momentum up. We were hopeful at first that the boards would be postponed for a week or two, at the most. But it became postponed for a month! No matter, study schedules were adjusted accordingly. Looking back, it may have been the sanity break we all needed in the middle of all of that chaos. 5 years ago, we were just first year students, waiting for the PLE results and rejoicing with the rest of the CIM family when they finally came out. 5 short years went by and suddenly, we were the ones taking this huge step in our medical careers. I would like to take this opportunity, in behalf of Batch Spectra, to thank our alma mater for preparing us for those 12 exams, since first year med. Thank you, CIM SSC, for taking care of the examinees! Thank you also to all our mentors and SGD facilitators who shared their knowledge and stories with us throughout the years. Thank you to all our consultants and residents who taught us about life beyond our books. To all of our patients, thank you so much for everything that we have learned from you in the past years. We will always strive to serve you in the best way we possibly can. The challenges we met while trying to make our names 2 letters longer were all worth it. We have nothing but gratitude to everyone who was there to support us and to make sure that we came out of the waters alive and well. We only hope to make all of you proud.”
Kudos to batch Spectra