What shortage?

I just made an interesting discovery that would help the government address the shortage of doctors in the country. There is no shortage of doctors in the Philippines. Do you see all those drug testing laboratories near the Land Transportation Office? Well, there are doctors there whose names, I'm sure, are not found in the Professional Regulation Commission's list of medical doctors but whose practice, nevertheless, is tolerated by government. At the rate they're going, I'm not sure if they even have names.

These are the "doctors" who sign your medical certificate whenever you apply for a driver's license. They go through all the motions of doing a checkup. They get your weight, ask you questions related to your health and even do a reading test. And you know they are practicing as doctors because they charge you money in exchange for a medical certificate which they themselves sign.

Because these certificates are honored by the Land Transportation Office, the government, in effect, recognizes them as doctors-and not the kind that quacks, mind you.

So while the government sounds the alarm about the exodus of doctors who look for jobs in other countries as nurses, it should learn to tap the services of these LTO-accredited "doctors," at least, for the easy part of doing medical checkups and doing eyesight diagnosis.

Incidentally, these quacks are hiding behind the license of Dr. Noel de Jesus, a respected City Councilor of Dumaguete. I'm sure Dr. De Jesus is unaware that his name is being used by some people to perpetuate this blatant disregard for the time-honored rules of the medical profession. No doctor worth his salt would allow his or her receipt and name to appear in a medical certificate when he or she did not even examine the patient.

This is a sequel to a very familiar story I wrote three years ago, when I was also renewing my driver's license. At that time, there was another medical doctor -also a City Councilor--who allowed his secretary to sign medical certificates for driver's license applicants and collect fees for that purpose.

Clearly, nothing has changed in the last three years. There's no point in the LTO's insisting on having driver's license applicants undergo medical examinations. Accepting medical certificates issued by quacks not only insults the medical profession but it also makes a mockery out of government service. This requirement is just another money-making machine for corrupt officials.*

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