Moonlighting In Boracay

Iloilo is home to some of the country's best doctors, we mentioned in a previous post. Now we talk about one great opportunity for newly-licensed doctors, in Boracay.

Unbeknownst to most, Boracay is home to a few clinics and one government hospital. Two of the major medical providers hire doctors on a contractual, temporary basis. They call this practice "moonlighting" in the Philippine medical world.

For those doctors who are still thinking about their options for specialization or are just chilling after having passed the medical boards, there is a gold mine of opportunity in Boracay. If you find a way to get connected to Boracay Lying-In Clinic or Metropolitan Medical Doctors, you'll find that for just 15 days of hard work, you'll get a tenured call center agent's salary. How much is that? Multiply the days they work by 2 and add 3 zeroes after the product. Not bad, right?

What to expect when you moonlight in Boracay:

1. Stomach upset cases. Thanks to the dismal waste management system in the area, you'll be meeting with a lot of patients complaining of an upset stomach. According to a doctor friend who worked with the Lying-In Clinic, stomach pain is the worst to diagnose because the abdomen is home to a lot of bodily structures, all vital organs at that.

Tip for the doctors: try thinking Amoebiasis or Hepatitis A first and foremost. Be informed that the residential and commercial wastes all empty out into the sewers. Rare are the structures that have septic tanks here, according to another doctor-friend, so the feces and all other sewage just go through the sewers and go to the treatment plant before they are released into the sea via Bolabog Beach.

2. A case of hypochondriasis in paranoid levels. Of the three doctor-friends who visited the island, all of them do not bathe in the ocean because of the waste management system. One of them doesn't even allow the sea water to touch her feet. When it does, she washes them with antibacterial soap and bathes her feet in alcohol after.

Most of the water is treated before it goes out into the sea. And the sea waves go in other directions in the area where the waste water is dumped. Just don't make the mistake of swimming on Bolabog beach. As Sexynomad says, prefer Angol Beach in Station 3, as opposed to Station 2 or even Station 1.

3. Floods. Yes, it floods in Boracay. Again, blame the sewage system. The doctors who visit the island immediately pop anti-leptospirosis tablets as prophylactics against the rat-borne disease.

4. Locals who will try to fleece you. As soon as you get on the island, grab a copy of the Boracay Sun, available in Budget Mart, Crafts, and other partner establishments. You'll find a very helpful map and an even more helpful price list of local tricycle fares. Don't ride the habal-habal or the motorbikes that serve as PUV's. These are illegal.

Boracay has come a long way from the sleepy hamlet that it was. However, it has to be managed better. Its waters have to be respected more, if the Philippine government aims to keep this as a top tourist destination area. We don't want to give Boracay a bad name, however, we have to be honest and tell things as it is. This is Boracay, spots and all. Still beautiful. Still amazing. We just prefer to grab a book and sit by the shore instead of swim in its waters, however.