I would like to know who the top ten are in 2008 physicians board examinations

Ha, what a hypocrite! Don’t preach about the state of health care in the Philippines when you are openly contributing to the problem.

Congratulations for such great results, but why is he going to practice abroad if he is so concerned about the lack of doctors in his own country? Why does he not stay and help people in the rural areas of his own country?

Practice in the US? Typical Filipino- love of money, unmindful of service and dedication.

Your mindset is superficial.

congrats to another new servant of the foreign race. i hope he stay there and stop thinking of his countrymen which i am sure does not really matter much to him….

I agree with Linda D and angry K and let me point out that being a doctor is a vocation. It is more of a responsibility than a privilege. It is not just a title that you can brag about but it is a duty to the society. I think most doctors tend to forget that.

Why are people react negatively when a Filipino doctor leaves the country to gain more skills? When you are out of the country you get a better perspective on the whole situation in RP. You clear your head off those emotional baggages. While that doctor is over seas he makes connections with like minded doctors who are concerned with the lack of medical care in rural areas. These doctors often are great resources and help when that Filipino doctor goes back home. Some of them may even volunteer to do medical mission work. Or this Filipino doctor will make friends with the Filipino community who will help him in his practice back home. The FC is great at raising funds when they are assured that there is accountability.

It’s sad that at the end of the day it’s always about money. I understand we are all trying to make a living but I do hope if you are in a position to save a life of someone who can not pay medical services so would still save him. It wasn’t the case for my father. So in the Phil, if you are sick and you don’t have money usually they leave it in God’s hands.

I can understand the concern of Dr Marlon Garcia on the lack of facilities to perform medical procedures in the Philippines except for a very few medical centers in MetroManila.Therefore, I don’t blame him for wanting to go abroad to pursue post-graduate training in Cardiology.Good luck to you,Dr Garcia ,in your future endeavors.I hope that,after practicing your chosen speciality in the US,you will return to the Philippines to share your knowledge and training with your colleague.

I understand Dr. Garcia. He wants to leave the country to study further. I’m sure he will come back and serve the nation after his training in US.
Congratulations Dr. Garcia!

I can’t help wondering if Garcia paid somebody at PRC to ensure he gets the top spot on the recent medical board exam. If he really got the highest score, why is he incapable of understanding that the problem he seems so concerned about is caused by people like him? I’m inclined to think this man is devoid of human intelligence. I suggest an investigation be made regarding his actual score on the board exam.

The problem is not only the system but these newly licensed doctors themselves. Openly saying they would immediately seek work in the US rather than being of service first to the very people that taught them and in every way gave them the necessary practice they need.

Why not at least give back to the community? The sad part is these people has the gall to cite the problems when they are a big part of it.

Such a painful feeling reading this guy who even says that filipinos are at par with the world. I ask, “and whom did you learn these crafts from”? Isnt it the filipino teachers and doctors. The people who opted to stay and teach the profession? Where did you learn your craft? The Schools and shaggy hospitals that try to keep everything together for the filipino people, but you, choose to exploit these things that you benefited from and then run.

Shame on you.

What do you expect from a stereotypical bachelor whose ambitions violate his own ideals? What he said is nothing new and nothing to be joyous about. I wish he finds his true calling and he’d volunteer himself to aid those in need–especially in the frontlines of Mindanao. What an a**hole grinning even in front the camera. He doesn’t even consider staying for at least two years!

I wonder why this article is even published: probably just to ridicule hypocrisy personified.

I challenge you Mr. Garcia, to practice what you preach!

we filipinos are so concerned and proud about board exam publicity! topping the board doe’snt mean you’ll be a topnotch world class doctor! correction: you can’t take the usa board exam with philippine credentials without going back to usa medical internship school again! i think we are better off just shut off our mouth of being the filipino’s the best drs in the world! we don’t have the credibility for that claim!

you are only as good as your last exam and your last acamedic honors. You are nothing here when you come here to USA. The Filipino people badly need your services. The Americans do not need you!!!

It’s sad that he can talk about the lack of doctos in the country but still decide to take the US MLE then practice abroad. If he truly thinks that the Philippines lacks qualified doctors, who doesn’t he stay and help improve health care in the country?

I am also a doctor and am a practicing Emergency Medicine physician. I could easily go abroad and earn more there because my specialty is in high demand. However, I feel that I can better serve my country and my countrymen by being a physician here. I have been fortunate enough to be recognized internationally (as a Hero of Emergency Medicine by the American College of Emergency Physicians and as a Global Filipino Youth Awardee by the Global Filipinos Australia) for my work locally.

Dr. Garcia: if you still think you would be better off pursuing specialty training abroad, I hope you decide to come back to serve your countrymen instead. Your country needs you. You are exactly what the Philippines lacks.

It’s sad that our medicine board topnotcher can lament the lack of qualified doctors in the country and still plan to practice medicine abroad.

I too am a doctor and am a practicing Emergency Medicine specialist. I could have easily gone abroad and practice there because specialty is in huge demand. However, apart from recognizing the need for physicians locally, I realized I would better serve my country and countrymen by staying here and working here. I have been blessed enough to have been recognized internationally for my work as an Emergency Medicine physician and my advocacy for the improvement of prehospital and emergency medical services (as a “Hero of Emergency Medicine” by the American College of Emergency Physicians and as a “Global Filipino Youth Awardee for Community Service” by the Global Filipinos Australia).

If Dr. Garcia thinks that he would be better off pursuing specialty training abroad, I hope he will at least consider coming back to the Philippines to serve his country and his countrymen. The Philippines needs professionals in order to progress. The main reason why first world countries are doing so well is because Filipinos are the backbone of their workforce.

There truly is a huge need for qualified doctors locally and Dr. Garcia is exactly what our country needs– a qualified doctor.

You just shot yourself on the foot! You ARE the problem! “those who need you the most” are in the Philippines, not abroad. Take advantage of that privilege, why don’t you?

what a wasted interview…
be a part of a solution and not a problem

What a waste of time to interview Dr. Garcia. He is the problem yet he has the nerve to say out loud that he will come here in the US and take the US Med Licensing Exam? What happened during the course of this interview, can’t he hear himself during the interview? I don’t think he knows what he was talking about… He knows he is part of the solution but I believe he wants to be a part of the problem…

I’m a nurse and just listening to this guy talk tells me he’s got a thick head not good enough to understand real clinical life. I bet all he did was bury his head onto those “voluminous” medical books to top the exam. If I call him for a real life situation he won’t be able to correlate things. He can’t even see the simplest solution to the Philippine problem which he just mentioned. He doesn’t even know what professional medical practice meanss. “US medical doctors are more profesional”????????Dr, did I just hear you say that?You’ve watched too much House, ER etc.

I would like like to comment on one particular statement of Janie Octia about
Dr. Garcia as follows: “he (Dr. Garcia) believes that Filipino doctors have an edge over other nationalities it it comes to Dr.-patient relationship as Filipinos are more compassionate and personal.”

I am a Filipino doctor who practied my medical profession in the Philippines, Africa and South America for almost 4 decades and I have more than praise on the professional behaviour, compassion and personal relationship of fellow doctors in these countries to their patients.

Dr. Garcia’s statement is irresponsible. A neophyte doctor who have not even gone out of the country to practice his profession can demean his colleagues in other countries! I met a lot of foreign doctors and worked with them and they were just like any other doctors devouted and compassinate as we are in the Philippines or maybe even more!

I worked first as a volunteer under the MARIA (Medical Aid to Rurial Indigent Areas) project of the Philippine Medical
Association for a couple of years in the hinterlands of Basilan and Bukidnon then continued my private practice in a rural area in Davao before going abroad to seek for a greener pasture. That was the kind of spirit I had when I was a young doctor.

I advise Dr. Garcia to be more prudent and transparent. Factual statement is the norm in the medical profession.

…you are all so judgemental of Dr. Garcia. ….self-righteous. if you believe you are doing the right thing… shut up and just do it. inspire people, and do not be the first one to hurl rocks at those whom you deem wrong.

to all the medical professionals who gave their comments here, who among you are currently practicing in the most remote areas of the Philippines, the real places in dire need of doctors and nurses and plan to stay? I bet wala…. kasi nakakapag Internet p kayo ngayon. so what if you decide to stay and practice in the country, it doesn’t count if you are in the urban areas anyway. magpakatotoo kayo.