Life as a Physical Therapist in the Philippines

  

     Its summer time in the Philippines... its so hot and my laptop is almost on flame. Even though the climate is not comfortable and all the people are are going crazy finding ways to cool themselves, I decided to create a blog about my profession.

     I am a physical therapist. I never thought when I was young that I will be one, but I guess I was born to be one. I take it more as a vocation, to serve God by helping people recover from their disability, prevent onset of disease and help people make the most out of their lives through physical fitness.

     During college years, I was not really an achiever. I'm not good in memorizing medical terms, muscle attachments and pathologic processes. I really can't grasp the sense of these knowledge while sitting in the classroom listening to the lecture or reading text books. I can say that I'm a late bloomer. The only time I realized the importance of studying anatomy, physiology, clinical assessment and therapeutic management is during clinical internship where I was able to stand face to face with a complex human being with a physical condition who is in need of my help. So, to overcome my weaknesses in academic knowledge... every time I handle a patient, at night I will go to my books and study about the patient's condition, what are the risks and contraindications for that case and what therapeutic management I will use.

     Life as a Physical Therapist in our country is not really financially fulfilling. After graduating from a 5 year course and passing the licensure exam, it is not easy to find a job with salary. Most of the time, an entry-level physical therapist needs to work as a volunteer in a hospital or clinic without any salary. One is lucky enough to have a food or transportation allowance. In some facilities, the therapists are the ones who pay training fees so that they can enter as volunteers. Then, after 1 or 2 years of volunteering, Filipino physical therapists apply as clinic or hospital staff if there's an open slot in the facility.

     To be able to earn extra while volunteering or working in a hospital, Filipino physical therapists engage in Home Care Physical Therapy services. Patients who cannot come to the hospitals or clinics for treatment can make an appointment with a licensed therapist. Some of the referrals are coming from the hospitals where the PT is working/volunteering, some are from other hospitals, some are patients who found the therapist's advertisement and others heard through words of mouth.

     Its a bit sad seeing that our country is suffering from brain-drain because most of our therapists work outside the country. Some of the reasons why PTs fly out of the country is because of low salary, slow professional growth, inability to practice clinical decision making and wrong perception of the public about our profession. When people ask me what my profession is, after answering that I am a physical therapist, the usual response from them is, "So your a masseur!"

     Physical Therapy in our country needs some make-over. That's the reason why I created this blog. I want to promote our profession and create awareness about physical conditions that can benefit from physical therapy intervention. This blog is a work-in-progress and a journey... I hope I can share more for the world, one blog at time. Thank you and God bless us all!