one month later...

I apologize for the lack of blogging. I blame my digestive system. Last month, a day after my birthday, I started to feel sick and the next morning I went to the hospital.
I had an acute case of ileitis, which is an inflammation of the small intestine, and I was in the hospital for four days!

- photo credit: Karen Mae courtesy of her iPhone -

Nothing makes you question life and what you want from it, more than having an IV connected to your arm.
To curb my hospital depression, my family and friends showered me with love and support.
I was lucky to have them, but an odd part about my hospital visit was that I found solace in the hospital staff.
The reason why is because all the nurses I had during my four day stay were Filipino.

There are several types of nurses, a licensed practical nurse (LPN), a licensed vocational nurse (LVN), a registered nurse (RN), and an advanced practice nurse (APN), and in spite of these different nursing levels and varying years in education all the nurses I encountered were Filipino.

Under the cloud of morphine that engulfed my brain I began to wonder about the state of the medical field and how Asian Pacific Americans dominate.
In a recent episode of Desperate Housewives, Teri Hatcher's character is diagnosed with menopause, she cannot believe her doctor's diagnosis and questions his credibility by asking to see his diplomas.
She said, "I just would like to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines."

-click to watch the infamous line -



This statement caused a huge uproar in the both the Filipino American and Philippine community. Since the airing of this episode, Filipinos have demanded an apology from ABC by signing mass online petitions and picketing outside the ABC studio.

“The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles wishes to express strong displeasure over a derogatory remark made against Philippine Medical Schools,” wrote Los Angeles Philippine Consul General Mary Jo Aragon in a formal letter to ABC President Mark Pedowitz, as found on www.asianjournal.com
“We wish to point out that the Philippine medical profession is highly regarded all over the world, as evidenced by the high demand for Filipino healthcare professionals in many countries, including this country [America].”

“It is most unfortunate that the remarks made at the recent episode only served to create racial stereotypes, thereby tainting unnecessarily the excellent record of Filipino healthcare professionals all over the world,” added Aragon.



Many people don’t consider this an important issue and view it simply as a joke done in poor taste.
But ask yourself this...
Why would the writers and producers of Desperate Housewives, a hugely successful and popular television show, decide to blatantly demean the Filipino medical community with a racial slur that suggests incompetence?
Especially when Filipinos and Asian Americans account for a large percentage of the medical field, making them a part of the majority not minority.