They say that the second year level of the ADZU-SOM is one of the most challenging parts of being a medical student as far as academics is concerned. And yes, we totally agree with that. However, this holds true not only in terms of the academic strand of ADZU-SOM, but also in line with the community exposure. This semester’s community immersion seemed to be the most challenging so far as we had the longest 5-day hikessssssssss of our lives, old school style. From our starting point to our way back home, we had our feet geared up as our only mode of transportation. We walked for about a thousand kilometers (can’t exactly estimate) with our bag packs full of survey tools, monitoring equipment like BP apparatus, stethoscopes, weighing scales and of course our packed lunch so we can eat anytime, anywhere, any style. We were accompanied by our very beloved BHW/neighbor Ate Maricel. We walked on a variety of terrains, cemented, rocky, sandy, and grassy and lot of wet, soaked, clay soil. We crossed a number of rivers, walked through corn fields, hiked through a pathless forest, mountains, valleys and plains. On the first few days of our hikes, we all had haggard faces, shoes heavily covered in mud and a few nae-nae slides along the slippery way. But of course our companion, Ate Maricel, wearing a pair of white slippers, remained composed and tidy, not a stain of mud on her white slippers. But towards the end of our hikes series, it was so amazing that we had maintained a very clean footwear despite the pools of mud under the heavy rains. And then it came to us that we have already adapted and knew exactly where to set every footstep on the roads of our barangay. The house to house survey was one of our planned activities for this semester to obtain additional data. We actually have the option of not doing this activity due to security reasons, but cliché they may say, we wanted to do this to help the people. Doing the house to house survey entails real-time monitoring, actual ocular inspection, and an opportunity to promote heath. We had the opportunity to establish rapport with the people while introducing to them Preventive medicine. But another important thing is that it offered an opportunity for us to become better persons because of the respect that we have for humanity, the respect of treating people as equals, that every human being is being tested by life but still able to pull through despite the odds, the kind of respect that gives justice to their existence, not to what they have or where they came from, the respect not to look down on people, the respect to help them be the person they want to be as how they have helped us to be the person we want to become. In reminiscence, the house to house survey was actually a character-builder than a torment to us activity, a test of patience than a subject for complaints. It was actually really strategic that we were able to help others and that they were able to help us build our characters. And we're glad that we have learned something that great in this community exposure. Sitti Shalimar Tahir ADZU-SOM Level 2
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MissionWe are all for a healthier New Barili! Archives
July 2018
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