MANILA, Philippines - With her academic achievements, Angeli Andres Soriano Cocos of the University of the Philippines will have an easy time working overseas.
But this year’s topnotcher in the medical board examination intends to work in her own country.
“I don’t remember playing as a doctor when I was small, but I knew this was the path that I’d take when I grew up,†Cocos recounted.
Now 25, Cocos has not only fulfilled her dream, she even topped the licensure examination for physicians this month.
Unlike many other medical professionals, she does not dream of working abroad.
“I can’t imagine myself serving a foreign patient. In the first place, I’m from UP, iskolar ng bayan (a scholar of the country), so I was sent to school by our country. It would be embarrassing for me to go abroad. I can study abroad, but I want to do my practice here,†she said.
A graduate of the University of the Philippines-Manila, Cocos bested 424 other new doctors who passed the board exam. A total of 815 medicine graduates took the test given by the Professional Regulation Commission earlier this month.
Cocos says her parents influenced her to study medicine. Her mother Percida is an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Manila Adventist Medical Center in Pasay City, while her dad Eduarte works as a company nurse in Saudi Arabia.
“I think I was molded for this. I can’t think of doing anything but this. But if I didn’t enter med school, I would have become a nurse. My mother was a nurse before she became a doctor,†Cocos told The STAR.
The new doctor was supposed to take the board exams in August 2013 but the examination fell on a Saturday, a day which a Seventh Day Adventist like her believes should be dedicated solely to God.
Her topping the board exam was unexpected, although she admitted praying very hard to land in the top 10.
“I was so happy and I could not help crying. God is so good and I feel so blessed,†she said.
Cocos admitted that topping the board exam was not easy for her. “I really studied hard, especially in med school. I have to admit I’m studious, one thing I inherited from my mom. But God just fulfilled my dreams, and my family and boyfriend are very supportive of me. If not for them, I don’t think I’d be here.â€
Cocos has three siblings and two of them are also taking medicine at the University of the Philippines-Ramon Magsaysay. The youngest is in Grade 8.
Asked for her opinion on the shortage of health professionals in remote areas and their exodus abroad, Cocos refused to be judgmental.
“We have different priorities in life, so I don’t think I’m at the level where I can judge them. Maybe they just want their families to have a better life,†she said.
Cocos is open to the possibility of working in a remote area. She said her mother wants her to do missionary work in the community and she is open to it.