2024 Grand Alumni Homecoming Launch

Many schools in the Philippines have this tradition that the silver jubilarian alumni class (i.e., the alumni who graduated 25 years ago) organizes and hosts the alumni homecoming for that year. Since we graduated from medical school in 1999, that would be us and here we are hosting a year’s worth of events for the […]

Moderating a Webinar, Fueled by Caffeine

Social media post for Thursday, September 14, 2023: I did this today. Fueled by caffeine. Not sure I want to do it ever again. So many things to pay attention to when moderating a webinar… but thankful to the UP Medicine Class of 1999 webinar tech team behind the scenes for all their help. Backstory: […]

Life in Home Quarantine

After exiting hotel quarantine or “facility-based quarantine” on day 5 or 6 (depending on when you check out), you can head home to complete 14 days of quarantine. The reasoning behind this is sometimes symptoms appear up to 14 days after exposure to COVID-19. Generally though, the probability that symptoms will appear after day 5 […]

What to do in hotel quarantine?

It wasn’t bad. I treated the 5 night/6 day stint as a staycation. Also, being cooped up in a room for several days wasn’t so bad for me since I am an introvert and can entertain myself pretty easily. Read more about quarantine in this post. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m just going to […]

Hotel Quarantine Chronicles

In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, international arrivals to the Philippines are required to do a few days of facility quarantine before proceeding to home quarantine. The duration for both facility quarantine and home quarantine depends on whether the traveler is vaccinated or unvaccinated, and whether he/she is coming from a “green” country or […]

Journeying to Manila, Part 3 of 3: Flying, Arrival in MNL, and Travel to the Hotel

Read part 1 and part 2 to get caught up. Flying and Arrival The flight was pretty uneventful, as you would like flights to be. To comply with COVID-19 protocols, the flight attendants wore personal protective equipment (PPE) which included goggles, a mask and a protective gown. All passengers were asked to wear masks for […]

Journeying to Manila, Part 2 of 3: OneHealthPass and the Sydney Airport

Part 2 of my travel experience flying to Manila. Read part 1 here. OneHealthPass The Philippine Bureau of Quarantine has a system called OneHealthPass, through which they gather all your necessary documents and trace your movements through the various health stations at the Manila airport. While you can register for this and create a profile […]

INTARMED Program (Integrated Liberal Arts-Medicine)

I referred to the Integrated Liberal Arts-Medicine (INTARMED) program in a blog post about my burgeoning interest in the medical humanities, and I thought I’d write about it a bit more here. We’ll start with the basics first. Generally, Philippine medical schools require completion of a 4-year baccalaureate degree prior to entering medical school; the […]

WORMHOLE: What’s in a Name?

WORMHOLE.: Words On Rehabilitation, Medicine, Humanities, Old Stuff, Language and Education Welcome to my new website. I thought long and hard about what to call the blog. Friends and family know that I like witty wordplay so a straightforward “My Website” or “My Blog” might not be the best choice. However, titles are not my […]