By Josephine Mata

The author, a physical therapist by profession, is from Quezon City. She graduated from University of the East Ramon Magsayay Memorial Center (UERMMMC) in 1996 where she later taught, from 2004 till 2009. After graduation she worked for three years as a clinician at Metropolitan Hospital, Manila. She then entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMMs) but left during the novitiate. She is a volunteer catechist in St Francis de Sales Parish, Beckley but sometimes attends Mass at Sacred Heart Parish, South Williamson, West Virginia, near where her brother lives and where the parish priest is a Filipino from Oriental Mindoro, Fr. Rey Landichio.

When patients get sick they are in their most vulnerable state. They are at the mercy of other human beings - mere mortals, limited but nonetheless gifted (or so they wish to think of themselves). I am talking about healthcare providers, doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals and the insurance companies.