PUA Midyear 2017

One thing I love about PUA is that during midyear the PUA holds its midyear convention to different parts of the Philippines.  I think this is a great way to know the country, and also for the urologists of different provinces and cities to showcase their hometown and place of practice in a very amazing way.

Plus, this helps in tourism of that place 😆.  And from a resident's point of view, we get the chance to experience something outside of the life inside the hospital.

This year's Midyear Convention, I was very excited.  I get to go to CEBU!!!! This is my first time to go to Cebu!

The moment I arrived in Cebu, I thought that it looked a lot like Manila, except there's a different vibe to it, I felt it gave me the feeling of less stress.

The moment we arrived, we had a very Filipino lunch.  Everything was delicious!

The convention was held at Radisson Blu Hotel.  We also stayed there while in Cebu.  I love how the hotel is clean, neat, luxurious. The staff are very accommodating also and very friendly, the typical famous Filipino hospitality.

The topic for this Midyear is a light one, it focuses on the health and well-being of the urologist.  I think this is something very important and yet frequently ignored.  As a doctor, before you can take care of your patients, you have to take care of yourself also.  Being in the fast paced very demanding world of medicine and healthcare, doctors themselves frequently forget how to take care of themselves, not because they don't know how, but because they worry about their patients so much that they tend to neglect their own health, just like a mother to her children.

The first night, we got to taste the very famous Lechon Cebu.  You should never ever forget to taste the Lechon when you go to Cebu.  Afterall, Cebu is the Lechon Capital of the Philippines.  The cocktail night was actually named "Lechon Fiesta", it sounded so appetizing isn't it?

Conventions are a great way to catch up with fellow Urologists and fellow alumni.  Here, we were all enjoying the Lechon Cebu.

Another highlight for me from the convention is the fellowship night.  It's an unforgettable experience for me personally, well because I cosplayed as Audrey Hepburn during the Fellowship night (1960s-themed), I won the PUA Research Grant Contest, and I won as Female Best Costume during the fellowship night.  Isn't that great? You feel your hardwork paid off, and people appreciated your hardwork as well. Oh before I forget, one of the Uro Residents won the research grant as well.

Here's a picture of the certificate of the grant.  To my disappointment though, I have to get the prize in Manila. Haha, Paasa...

To give you an idea of the other costumes of the other consultants and people in the fellowship night, here are some pictures of them:

By the end of the convention proper, the last day was dedicated for the urologists to experience Cebu.  Our consultants decided that we go to Oslob Cebu.  

It was a 2 1/2 travel from the hotel to the whale watching place.  You have to leave very early, because the place is packed with tourists, and you have to go in the morning because the whale sharks are only available in that area in the morning.

This is the experience I will never forget, being able to swim so close to the sharks, some part of me is very happy and some part of me gets a little scared, especially if the whales are coming close to you.  You'll never know when they want a person for their meal.  But they were very gentle actually and they seem to get acquainted with people already.  I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but hey, as a simple person, at least it's better than the locals capturing them and selling them or killing them for food.  So I think in a way they help preserve the species.

Too bad though we didn't rent a go-pro camera.  You can rent one for the group for P550.  I think it's worth it if it will give you a piece of the remarkable memory you experienced.  If you want to save money, you can bring your own waterproof camera.  I think that is better than renting one.

I don't have pictures of our experience in Oslob while swimming because I don't want to risk my phone falling into the water.  But here's our group pic prior to riding the boat.

By the time we're done swimming with the whale sharks, we decided to go back to the hotel since everyone was very tired already.

We went on a side trip to a miraculous church also.  I don't know the name, if anyone knows, please help me by commenting down below the name of this church.  Architecture wise this is very very beautiful!!!

We ended the last day of the convention with a group dinner with one of our alumni, Dr Edwin Lim.  Thank you for accommodating us!

Also pahabol are some of our plane pics: