Going against the grain
June 14, 2004
(Note: I first wrote about our co-alum Dr. Kadil Sinolinding in 2002. This article is an update and was re-written especially for Pinoy.MD. I had a recent exchange of e-mails with Kadil and he sends his regards to everyone.)
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Dr. Kadil “Jojo” Sinolinding, Jr. never makes the newspaper’s front-page or the opinion and editorial pages. Maybe when he was chosen as one of the The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in 2000 in the field of Rural Medicine, the story may have been in the papers, buried deep in the inside pages, next to a house-for-sale classified ad. Maybe his own eye care project, the Vision 20/20 Cataract Charities Project, which has successfully treated more than 5,000 cataract cases and examined thousands more of poor patients in Mindanao and the Visayas, will make the national dailies soon. Then again, maybe not.
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"After all the good doctors have left our place, I don’t know who will take over and help all the sick people. There are more people taking up nursing than medicine now and we must face it squarely."
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Columnists and editorial writers nowadays are busy pounding on Filipino doctors who choose to find a decent life elsewhere because their own country couldn’t provide it for them. Stories like Dr. Sinolinding’s are easily set aside. They don’t sell papers. But as much as we respect the decisions of those who joined the exodus abroad, Dr. Sinolinding deserves some mention too.
Dr. Sinolinding basically works as a servant of the poor, blind Filipinos particularly in Mindanao, a place he calls “the impoverished God-forsaken land”. A graduate of the West Visayas State University College of Medicine in 1989, he had aspirations of becoming a surgeon. After passing the board examinations, he started his residency training in General Surgery at the Cotabato Regional Medical Center in Cotabato City.
During his first year of surgical residency training, he noticed that a lot of people were being operated on during the more advanced stage of the disease or where complications have already set in. A sad realization that nobody told these folks about their affliction in the early stages. A simple advice from a medical professional, which is virtually non-existent in the outskirts of the country should have been more than enough to avoid these palliative and desperate procedures. This prompted Kadil to quit residency to join public health as a Municipal Health Officer of Pagalungan, Maguindanao, a war-torn municipality. He would eventually quit government service to devote all his time to charity work.
Kadil's experience in the field as a Municipal Health Officer served as an eye-opener to him on the sad plight of the poor people in the villages. There are no medicines, no social services, poor sanitation and malnutrition. “They have almost nothing but misery and the will to survive,” he told me in 2002. “Solving these problems were my first challenges.”
While working for the government, Kadil was sent to undergo training in Ophthalmology at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) under the Modified Residency Training Program with the Department of Health. He finished residency and passed the diplomate examination of the Philippine Board of Ophthalmology in 1996. Since then he started working in the far-flung municipalities of Mindanao without eye services, trained eye-care volunteers as well as doctors and nurses for the basic treatment and diagnosis of eye problems.
"I was encouraged to take up Ophthalmology because my grandmother got needlessly blind," he wrote on his choice of specialty. "The family couldn't afford to pay for the services of an eye doctor. The diagnosis was Glaucoma secondary to hypermature cataract, OU. Because of that, I made myself a promise that no one whom I have seen will go blind just because they are poor."
His pet project, the Vision 20/20 Cataract Charities Project came about after the Department of Health scrapped the funding for the program Prevention of Blindness in 1999. He received support from the Canadian government, as well as NGO’s from Germany and the United States that have similar interest in the field. “Up to now, we have successfully treated more than 5,000 cataract cases and examined thousands and thousands of poor patients for free,” he told me just recently. “The cataract team is still very strong with many volunteers down the line. I pray that we can make it and serve thousands more for the sake of the poor people of Mindanao and Visayas.”
In fairness, Kadil’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. He's been a recipient of many awards and recognitions. Among them:
1. One of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) for 2000 in the field of Rural Medicine, by the Philippine Jaycees, Gerry Roxas Foundation, and the E-PCIB Foundation - December 14, 2000 at Malacañang Palace, Manila.
2. The Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) for 2001 in the field of Humanitarian and Voluntary Leadership by the Junior Chamber International - November 6, 2001 at the Palu dela Musica Catalana, Barcelona, Spain.
3. Rizal Award for Rural Physicians (RARP) - November 7, 1997 at the Manila Hotel. Given by Hoechst, Phil Public Health Association, and Order of the Knights of Rizal.
4. Outstanding Alumnus of the WVSU College of Medicine in the Field of Public Health - Grand Reunion of WVSU College of Medicine at Sarabia Manor Hotel on Sept 22, 1999.
During a recent exchange of e-mails, I asked his opinion about the exodus of our colleagues abroad, mostly working as nurses. “They have reasons to do it and I respect that,” he wrote. “Everybody deserves a greener pasture in life and a peace of mind which, sad to say, there is not much in my place. It is just sad that too many are leaving or plan to leave compared to those who plan to enroll. I hope there’s something the government can do to reduce the efflux of our talented and trained MD’s.”
Is he planning to leave? “Definitely not. I am not leaving the Philippines to work abroad as a nurse,” he said. “Currently, I am forming a group of young MD’s who don’t have plans to leave the country to bond ourselves and make some action on how to handle the situation once our colleagues leave. How I wish there will be enough doctors to help us with this situation.”
Of course, I have to ask him the obvious question - how are you and your family doing financially? “Financially, we are doing fine,” he replied. “I am a very simple person as to my needs and luxuries in life.” Kadil is married to the former Ma. Elena Paz Unson. They have three kids - Josh, Thianne, and adopted son, Khalil.
But his greatest challenge is yet to come. “To tell you frankly,” he wrote, “my wife who is also a nurse is going to the United States. The greatest challenge in my life is informing my wife that I am staying behind for an obvious reason: I just can’t leave my place. After all the good doctors have left our place, I don’t know who will take over and help all the sick people. There are more people taking up nursing than medicine now and we must face it squarely.”
Kadil may still end up in a newspaper headline or a harsh editorial. Kadil may still change his mind about going abroad.
I highly doubt if he ever will.
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The author's e-mail address is at drgarcia(at)wvsumedaa.com
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Views expressed on this column and any other by-lined articles on this site are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization or its members.
