Cinemalaya 2012 notes:

-The Filipino family. Diablo, Mga Dayo, Aparisyon, Requieme and Ang Nawawala; all films tackled family. Weird or maybe not. The concept of a Filipino family seem to be in a state of flux and each generation seem to value the family differently.

-Aparisyon is one of the best shot films I've seen in Cinemalaya. The film makers really hit the jackpot with their cinematographer.

-Requieme paints a really good portrait of Philippine society. Some scenes are almost too painful to watch, sapul eh.

-Ang Nawawala is a coming-of-age film done well. Can't help but notice the Norah-ness of Edin. Can't say it's a Filipino coming-of-age film though. If this is how upper and upper middle class kids are, substance abuse psychiatry sounds like an attractive specialization.

-Pwedeng wag tumawa sa mga eksenang hindi naman dapat tinatawanan? Mature mehn.

-Avoid watching any movie with med students or doctors. They can't help but cringe at the mistakes films make with regards to medicine and health.

"We tested the efficacy of those mosquito traps in areas with the highest reported incidence of dengue. In 2011, traps were distributed in Bukidnon—which had recorded 1,216 cases of dengue in 2010. After distribution, the number of cases decreased to 37—that is a 97 percent reduction rate. In the towns of Ballesteros and Claveria in Cagayan, there were 228 cases of dengue in 2010; in 2011, a mere eight cases were recorded. In Catarman, Northern Samar: 434 cases of dengue were reported in 2010. There were a mere four cases in 2011."

Right... The figures seem to good to be true and I remain skeptical. I have failed to find papers evaluating the effect of lethal ovitrap on dengue incidence. The ones I found are on mosquito populations which showed no effect or reduction to around 50% of mosquito populations.

I also have a problem with their indicator. Using DOH reports of dengue cases is not the best way to measure efficacy of this intervention. Dengue fever is probably defined differently from one doctor to another and may change every year. I think the WHO case definition (using the algorithm) is too sensitive and not very specific that it should not be used for research purposes. Seroconversion among a cohort should have been done as this is the best way to determine incidence.

At the very least, I hoped they used a valid control community where they implemented the same dengue program except that  the traps do not contain larvicide.

It's Cinemalaya time again and clerkship will not prevent me from enjoying this years selection of movies.


True to Cinemalaya spirit, lines still take a long time to clear up and tickets get sold out for many shows. Looking at the bright side, I get to see two films that was not part of my original choices. I think the two, Diablo and Mga Dayo, were in the bottom. Although I was not happy with Diablo, I do appreciate the wonderfully shot nighttime scenes. If the director had pushed for a more suspense-type movie, he would have been more successful. Mga Dayo was a pleasant surprise.

Mga Dayo has a really nice ending theme hence the link. I also see why it was chosen for this years festival despite having a much explored theme: immigration, OFWs, Filipinos abroad. The way I can best describe it is that it has a lightness rare in Filipino movies. It has a delicate touch I guess. It doesn't bash you and scream, "Look at me! I'm a Filipina abroad and my life kind of sucks too!"


Granted, I still want to see my top choices so I bought tickets for the next two movies I'm going to watch this week. No more lines! Yey!

Met a fammed case in ortho opd. I hate that these "surgeon" residencies often ignore the other problems of the patients. We are often told that we should always look at the patient as a whole and address the most pressing problem in the patient. This may or may not be within the area of specialization. This may or may not be related to the chief complaint. We are all trained to become general practitioners first and we should always act like one if the patient has problems outside of the specialty. Often times it means referring to another physician and at the very least, educating the patient and giving preliminary management.

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Today, I met a breast cancer patient who is deferring chemotherapy. It sucks that she got sent to Ortho. Surgical OPD clinics are not known for their use of the biopsychosocial approach. They don't even use the complete clinical approach. It was clear to me that her problem is not the shoulder pain but lies in her family. Something is terribly disturbing if a patient who just underwent MRM continues to view her cancer as death sentence. Maybe I should have sneaked in a referral to Fammed or Hospice on her chart.

Participated in another code.Again the patient was not revived. I wonder why our block is so unlucky.

On the other hand, I realize what skills I need to develop so that I could provide better care.

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Is it normal that I view my patients as puzzles that need to be solved?

Codes. Not as tension-filled as I had expected but really tiring. Or maybe this is just the de-humanization process kicking in.