“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

– Gandalf, Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)

The Alliance of Philippine and Medical Colleges pulled out all interns from PGH last March 14, 2020. However, seeing the gap it would leave in terms of manpower, I was compelled to return. I called on similarly-minded co-interns and after the call-to-arms, a total of 355 interns had expressed their willingness to continue serving.

Batch presidents, Michelle “Mitch” Eala and Romano “RA” Pangan and I had a meeting with the PGH Deputy Director for Hospital Operations, Dr. Juliet Sio-Aguilar to discuss how we could go about this legally. Providentially, Chancellor Carmencita Padilla joined us and the two-hour meeting marked the start of a beautiful and amazing journey. We would later recruit intern Ino Villacastin to help coordinate with other administrators.

When PGH was designated as a COVID referral center, the volunteer interns were, again for our safety, redirected to the call center. We were now, ironically, assigned to the frontline but without physically being there. We had some false starts, dry runs, and also software glitches. But being PGH-trained, what else was new? We would make do, find a way around it, adjust, invent a solution, and persevere because our people needed us to.  Monday came. After the launch, RA, Mitch, Ino, and I grabbed a quick picture with Chancellor Padilla with our mask-covered smiles. The half of us was amazed at how far we had come, the other half was wondering what we got ourselves into and how our journey had brought us here. We are interns, not call center agents! But this is the call of our country, and we are ready for it.

It was breathtaking and mind-boggling for me as a supervisor for 14 hours that day. I was grateful to have RA, Mitch, and Ino with me in the first eight hours; and our volunteer coordinator, Dr. Lanie Nicodemus was heaven sent. Two weeks later, things have become routine but are still exciting and ever-changing. As Dr. Padilla said during her opening remarks, “Kung hindi tayo maghahati-hati ng trabaho, hindi natin magagawa nang ganito kabilis.” Teamwork makes the dream work and I have been blessed and privileged to have been part of this team, playing my role in the greater scheme of things.

Nicholas Robert Tan | Published in UP Manila Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 2