- ALLEN V. DEL CARMEN
Respect and be compassionate to frontliners.
This is the appeal of Physician Licensure Exam topnotcher Ma. Inez Sellado Benedicto, a native of La Carlota City.
Benedicto, who graduate valedictorian from the West Visayas State University College of Medicine, topped the September 2021 PLE with a rating of 87.83 percent. She shares the top spot with Jude Philip Cebrecus of Cebu Institute of Medicine.
The PLE topnotcher is the youngest of the two children of Richard Benedicto, a director of the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, and the former Marie Sol Sellado, a businesswoman. Her brother Richard Sebastian is a Sangguniang Panlungsod member of La Carlota.
Ma. Inez finished valedictorian from the grade and high school of La Consolacion College La Carlota and Pax Catholic Academy. She graduated magna cum laude in 2015 from the Medical Technology Program of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, where she was named Miss UNO-R during her freshman year.
The new doctor was also crowned Mutya ng Western Visayas PRISAA and represented La Carlota in the 2013 Lin-ay sang Negros pageant, where she was named Lin-ay sang Organic na Negros South and Miss Talent.
Her top performance in the PLE is the second consecutive feat for the UNO-R MedTech Program. Last year, Patrick Joseph Mabugat, who graduated from the University of St. La Salle medical school, placed second in the PLE. Mabugat, a BSMT graduate of UNO-R, was topnotcher in the MedTech Licensure test, where Ma. Inez placed No. 7 in 2015.
Below is our Q & A with the PLE topnotcher:
What made you decide to pursue medical studies?
At a young age, I’ve seen family members get sick and get taken care of by doctors and other allied health workers. I did not fully understand their work then butI remember being thankful that they made my family members well. When I was in college, my grandmother was in and out of the hospital and had to undergo weekly dialysis sessions. We’d accompany and visit her often in the hospital and that’s when I developed an even deeper appreciation of the noble work that health professionals are involved in.
Moreover, I had doctor-professors in college and I remember myself just being in awe of their intelligence, their capacity to help other people and their state in life in general. These personal experiences and my love for science are the reasons why I decided to study medicine.
What challenges did you face: As a medicine student? While preparing for the licensure exam?
Probably the biggest challenge as a medicine student is being away from my family and having to live alone in an unfamiliar city. It would have been really nice to come home after class with dinner already prepared and just being able to talk with your family members and sleep at the comforts of my own home.
To say that the last few weeks have been stressful is an understatement. Our batch was given only 40 days of exclusive preparation (since our post-graduate internship ended last July 31,2021)- probably the shortest time ever given to prepare for a national licensure examination. Add to that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that made things difficult- from the processing of our documents, applying for the board exams and the cancellation of trips because of lockdown in different parts of the country.
We also had to undergo mandatory 14-days quarantine prior to the board exams. The academic workload itself is already overwhelming but health scare among my family members and the limitations brought about by the pandemic made it even more difficult. At one point, I was even contemplating not to take the board exams anymore because I was very overwhelmed with everything that’s happening. I did not feel prepared at all to take this examination and I personally did not expect to top the examinations. I just did what I can with that 40 days, poured in the hardwork and just prayed for the best.
How did your early Recoletos education prepare you for medical school?
I am very grateful to La Consolacion College-La Carlota, Pax Catholic Academy and University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos for equipping me not only with knowledge but also with values and morals of discipline and compassion. I am also very thankful for them for providing me with opportunities in and out of the school where I was able to develop my confidence as well as social, mental and academic competence.
Can you sum up the highlights of your community involvement as a medical student/intern?
Our Family and Community Medicine course during our medical education immersed us in different barangays in Iloilo City- we actually got to communicate and work with the community in creating programs such as the making of modular composite brick made of multilayer plastic waste. We were also given the opportunity to serve the needy people in the community as primary healthcare physicians when we went on duty in the different barangay health centers in Iloilo City. We also went on duty in the Municipality of Igbaras where we also did consults, took part in vaccination campaigns and visited far-flung barangays.
This is an occasion also for thanksgiving. To whom in particular would you like to give your words of appreciation and gratefulness for your achievement?
I would really like to thank the Lord, my parents-Mr and Mrs. Richard and Marie Sol Benedicto, my brother Baste Benedicto, my boyfriend, friends and everyone who helped me during my medical education and during the review season.
Thank you and congratulations to my alma mater, West Visayas State University and to my classmates of Batch CCetC 2020 for being the Top 4 performing school in the September 2021 Physician Licensure Examination. Endless gratitude also to my teachers from preschool upto Medical school and to everyone who never doubted in my capabilities.
Your immediate plans?
For now, I just want to enjoy this very special moment in my life. I’ve been getting a lot of offers to do residency training in several hospitals and even offers to teach. I cannot deny the fact that this pandemic and the intense review season I had really took a toll on my mental and emotional well-being so I want to use this time to rest and to regain my sense of “self”. I plan to serve in the community during this time, teach in some institution and then start with residency training in Internal medicine.
Your word of advice to aspiring doctors?
To all the dreamers and aspiring medical students, I salute you for deciding to pursue medicine even during this time of pandemic. Please do know that medicine is a very demanding profession- you’ll miss out on important family occasions, you’ll lose sleep and you’ll constantly be overwhelmed with the amount of things to study. But if you really want this for yourself, please hold on to that dream and put in the work. There really is no perfect formula to surviving medicine or topping the boards- it’s all about perseverance, faith, discipline and having the right people to support you while you reach for your dreams.
Your message to Negrenses, Ilonggos and other Filipinos for us to hurdle this global health catastrophe?
I share this victory with my fellow La Carloteños and Negrenses. I am very happy to read comments and receive messages telling me they are proud to have a fellow Ilonggo who is a topnotcher in the Physician Licensure Examination. I hope that I can be an inspiration to a lot of young people especially those who wish to pursue a career in medicine. I also want to use my voice to tell everyone that now more than ever is the best time for us to unite in order to have better control of this pandemic. I want to remind everyone to get vaccinated and to follow the necessary health protocols.
I am also calling on everyone to respect the frontliners- the very people who are already tired of this pandemic but nevertheless continue to brave the frontlines in order to serve the Filipino people. Let us all listen to what experts on science have to say and demand for better working conditions and proper compensation for our healthcare personnel. – AVDC
