A medtech becomes a doctor after supporting her studies as an online seller. She is proud of being an online seller, particularly because this helped her through the many difficult financial constraints in med school.
Becoming a doctor had always been a dream for Edna Chico, even back in her elementary years. But she had to face a lot of hardships before finally become one.
“Dreams do come true. Gaano man kahirap, gaano man ka-imposible, basta’t handang magsakripisyo at magsumikap na maabot ito,” the new doctor declared.
A resident of Barangay Poblacion in Malilipot, Albay, the young Edna dreamed of becoming a doctor and worked hard on her pre-med course as medical technologist. Then, her father went abroad to earn more money for the family as there were many of them in college at the same time.
A diligent student, she would soon become a registered medical technologist right after graduation. At this point, she was quite ready to proceed to med school to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor.
But things did not go as planned. Her father got sick abroad and had to go back home. Without her dad’s income, her mother’s salary as teacher could not send her to med school. She had to postpone her dream.
“Ang mahal kasi ng tuition talaga. Nasa P45,000 ‘yung tuition that time. Sabi ni mama, saan naman daw kami kukuha ng ganu’n. So talagang frustrated ako. Ang sama ng loob ko. Wala na. Wala na ‘yung dream ko. No choice na talaga,” Dr. Chico explained.
She decided to work abroad to support her family. It was only after she got married and had a kid 7 years later that she was finally able to go back to the Philippines to fulfill her lifelong dream.
A year after having her baby, she received scholarship from a medical school in Bicol where she was able to study. However, that scholarship, her salary as medtech, and her husband’s remittance as OFW were not enough to support her studies. Thus, she turned to online selling to support herself.
“So talagang nag-start ako sa med school nagtinda na rin ako ng kahit ano-anong produkto o pagkain. Pinasok ko na ang online selling,” she shared.
“Hanggang ngayon nagtitinda pa rin ako. Kailangan ko kasi ng extra income. Ang bag ko talagang laging puno ng paninda. Actually nahirapan din ako na pagsabay-sabayin lahat pero, di ba, kapag talagang gusto mo matupad ang pangarap mo, talagang kailangang magsakripisyo.”
Thanks to all those sacrifices, she finally made it through med school. Though she was not able to pass during her first take of the physician licensure exams, she managed to pass the second time around to become a licensed doctor.
Now that her dream has come true, Dr. Chico still wants to pursue more studies to specialize in internal medicine. Congratulations and good luck, Dr. Chico!