A viral storm is shaping up over the social media shaming of a doctor for charging his patient for services rendered. The patient recovered. Yet, in spite of giving a discount on his fees, the patient’s family accused him of being heartless. A prominent media person went on the attack as well. His post earned the ire of medical professionals as well as patients of the doctor who swore by his competence and compassion.

Let’s pause for a minute and find out what went on in a doctor’s life. He/she studied four years of pre-medical course to qualify for admission to medical school. One must have excellent grades for a shot at getting admitted to a reputable medical school. It means many nights burning the midnight oil while his contemporaries are having dates or nights out with the barkada.

Once in medical school, one’s social life becomes practically zero as it’s another four long years of studying and enduring sleepless nights of reviews and duties in the fourth year. Another year of internship continues the hardships of becoming a full-fledged doctor followed by more sleepless nights reviewing to pass the medical board exams.

Most doctors go into a residency of three to four years followed by subspecialty training of another year or two of sleep deprivation. A doctor starts medical practice only after spending half his/her life in pursuit of the noble profession.

Meanwhile, their contemporaries have breezed through life after a four year college course and are already earning a good living and starting families. Many have become millionaires/billionaires without so much as a sweat.

Many doctors start by becoming staff members of government hospitals, either full- or part-time for minimal pay, if at all. It’s a way of paying forward for the privilege of studying in government colleges/universities, the so-called “iskolar ng bayan.” They treat indigent patients as well as paying ones, expecting nothing in return from the former and charging appropriately for the latter.

Medical practice means a full day’s work and often, attending to emergencies or deliveries at night. There’s no time for the serene nights most people can expect day after day.

Even in private practice, there are many times that patients don’t have enough money to pay for their hospital bills, and the doctor ends up with many promissory notes that never get redeemed. We don’t go after these patients like companies do with their debtors, threatening to attach properties or tow away their cars.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, medical professionals manned the ramparts at the risk of their and their families’ lives. Some made the supreme sacrifice, among them my classmate Dr. Raul Jara, and my wife’s classmate, Dr. Sally Gatchalian. There is no way anyone can repay them and their families. Health workers carry the emotional trauma of those years but many still didn’t get the proper compensation owed them by the government.

Then, there are instances when doctors get hauled to court for the flimsiest or non-existent charges. You spend your whole life caring for patients and a high profile lawyer comes along and literally puts you in jail, where you die. That’s what happened to Dr. Iggy Agbayani. You become a dedicated researcher to ensure vaccine safety and you’re charged with homicide for proving a vaccine is safe. You produce a result that in your opinion proves the paternity of a child and you’re charged with perjury. These incidents weaponizing the law against doctors often go unnoticed by the public.

Usually, doctors are treated with respect by Filipinos, for their personal sacrifices in their medical career and their ability to save lives. Rightly so.

But ugly incidents like the above tend to cast a dark shadow on the medical profession, not because the medical practitioners deserve it, but due to people who make a living by shaming other people, rightly or wrongly.

The media person brought a child, who his vehicle had hit, to the Philippine General Hospital, where he proceeded to boss around the medical staff. That incident went viral as well, but he ended up getting shamed for being unreasonably demanding.

It turns out, according to the Secretary of Health’s post, that he also didn’t spend a single centavo on that child’s medical bill, which included CT scans, blood tests and the round-the-clock medical and nursing care until the child’s discharge. And he had the gall to malign these dedicated medical professionals!

We are not a punching bag or a trophy to hold up to get public attention, fame and fortune.

Shaming a doctor, or a nurse, for that matter? Shame on you!