Aired (October 28, 2023): Mahalaga sa mga medical student gaya ni Gillian ang pag-aralan ang cadavers o bangkay ng isang tao para mas mapalawak ang kanilang kaalaman sa medisina. Pero dahil sa limitadong supply ng mga bangkay para sa mga estudyante, paano na lang kaya ang kanilang pagkatuto?
Panoorin ang #TheSilentTeacher, dokumentaryo ni Mav Gonzales sa #IWitness.
Full episode: https://youtu.be/kSlg_O88xGE
Panoorin ang #TheSilentTeacher, dokumentaryo ni Mav Gonzales sa #IWitness.
Full episode: https://youtu.be/kSlg_O88xGE
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FunTranscript
00:00 They are among more than 200 freshmen med students this year.
00:04 No matter how modern the technology is,
00:08 the chairs at the table are still considered the best in gaining knowledge.
00:15 Just like Nina Jillian and Anton.
00:23 I appreciate labs more.
00:25 That's where I can visualize and see.
00:27 I appreciate it more. They complement each other.
00:32 It's a unique experience for Jillian
00:35 to face the silent mentors in the lab for the first time.
00:40 At first, I was shocked.
00:46 When a person's body is found, you think, "Oh, they were alive."
00:54 But as a medical student, you shouldn't just look at them as objects.
01:01 You should look at them as people.
01:03 Dr. Bundok admits that it's hard to talk about what medical students do outside the lab.
01:13 A large part of the Filipino culture is family and religion.
01:19 For some, the use of human bodies in medical studies is against the law.
01:25 On the other hand, it's important to study in the field of medicine.
01:31 For the medical freshmen, Haz and Nana,
01:38 they have no problem with studying in the actual human body.
01:44 It's important for them to broaden their knowledge of medicine.
01:49 It's a very simple disease.
01:54 But it's not curable because it's hard to access.
01:57 And no one goes to the province.
02:00 So I thought, "Why would I just complain about it every day when I can do something about it?"
02:06 I thought, "Maybe the best thing I can do is to become a doctor for my community."
02:13 Muslims believe that the dead should be buried immediately.
02:18 For us, you give the same respect you give to people who are alive.
02:26 So you bury the body as early as possible because they deserve that respect.
02:33 So yes, there is a conflict.
02:35 In my family, I don't know about the other Muslim families,
02:38 but they say that they still feel what the dead feels even though they're dead.
02:45 So in our case, in this cadaver dissection, of course, we're not as sure about it.
02:53 It's a bit itchy.
02:54 Yes, it's a bit itchy. We still feel a bit itchy about it.
02:57 But of course, there are exceptions.
02:59 And the exceptions here are, first, if it's for the sake of learning,
03:03 and second, if it's for the sake of autopsy, investigations.
03:08 Dr. Bundok also admitted that it's not easy for our culture to accept the use of the body in anatomy subjects.
03:17 All people have a strong tendency to be related to the dead.
03:23 Right?
03:24 That's the problem in the whole world, our taboos.
03:29 But what's surprising is that
03:31 in the whole world, regardless of the culture,
03:35 regardless of the religion, regardless of the belief,
03:38 they know that they should have a doctor.
03:42 They know that their doctor, to be a good doctor,
03:46 they should study anatomy.
03:48 As long as everything is ethical,
03:50 as long as the body that we put on our table for the student to study
03:54 should be treated according to the law of the government,
03:59 there should be a medical school.
04:01 The professor added that they don't just look at the bodies from a scientific perspective.
04:10 Every beginning of the semester,
04:12 they hold a mass to examine the bodies.
04:18 It's a very solemn ceremony,
04:20 that everyone should be present, even the professors present.
04:23 These people should be respected.
04:27 They should be your patients,
04:30 they should be your teachers,
04:32 and they should be given respect.
04:34 No matter how famous the adhikain is,
04:39 it's still not easy to convince many of us
04:43 about the voluntary donation of the bodies of the deceased relatives.
04:50 And this is the problem of the UPCM.
04:53 The bodies are not enough for the size of the class.
04:57 According to Dr. Bundok,
05:02 the UPCM has a memorandum of agreement
05:05 with a government institution
05:07 to donate the unclaimed bodies to them.
05:10 In a month, how many corpses are coming to us?
05:14 Before the pandemic,
05:16 our ratio of corpses to silent mentor was 6 to 1.
05:20 It was still ideal.
05:23 Almost in all developed countries,
05:25 6 to 1, 4 to 1.
05:27 Unfortunately, after the pandemic,
05:30 it was surprising.
05:31 Now, our ratio is 20 to 1.
05:35 So we have to break our class into two sections,
05:39 to make it 10 to 1.
05:41 20 to 1 is just too much, too many.
05:43 No one will learn. You're just looking at the back of their bodies.
05:48 The closest ones can dissect.
05:50 Before, they were 6 to 1.
05:52 They can see the body well,
05:56 they can examine it well, they can dissect it well.
05:59 Yes. And you feel, Doc, that it really affects the quality of the graduates?
06:03 Definitely.
06:05 Our ratio of 6 to 1 should be reversed.
06:10 Which I'm afraid is going to take some time.
06:12 If he signs a contract, what will he do?
06:15 There are more medical schools in the Philippines now,
06:19 so many are also fighting for limited supply of beds.
06:24 And after the Doctor for the Country Act became law,
06:28 which provides medical scholarships in exchange for services to the country,
06:33 more students need a silent mentor.
06:39 If you're a doctor, with the rapid technology that's coming,
06:44 there are so many things that a doctor should learn.
06:48 So even if you're a specialist,
06:50 the instruments and tools are changing
06:52 to improve the health of the Filipino population.
06:55 And we should learn how to use them.
06:58 To learn how to use them safely,
07:01 we have to practice.
07:03 It sounds ugly, but we have to practice on cadavers.
07:07 I know that in our country, the word "practice" is used.
07:11 But what will you choose?
07:13 If you're practicing,
07:15 you're the first to use that instrument,
07:17 you're alive, and you make mistakes.
07:20 Or you practice as a specialist on a cadaver.
07:24 We call it a cadaver, not a cadaver.
07:26 Silent mentor.
07:28 Sleep mentor.
07:31 Whatever the doctor's specialization,
07:33 he has to go through anatomy classes.
07:36 So there's a big problem that the bodies
07:39 that they can study are already lacking.
07:42 Since 1905, this has only become a problem in UPCM,
07:47 according to Dr. Bundok.
07:49 From the 30 cadavers that are distributed by freshman students,
07:54 this year, only 10 cadavers will be distributed by 200 students.
08:02 And the bodies are limited to only one year.
08:08 So what about the next years?
08:12 We have to do something.
08:14 So we have to turn to technology.
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