Meet Maxine Bacareza
Doctor, Yogi, Bookworm
On what seemed like a restful Saturday for most, Maxine was busy coordinating Hinimo, an art workshop project that landed in her lap just three weeks prior. As she flitted between responsibilities, she reflected on her work ethic, "I work well when I’m being creative and finding ways to be resourceful," she mused. She was also two weeks away from a trip to Australia, although, in the whirlwind of her current duties, this felt like a distant thought. "I’ve made a Pinterest board dedicated to summer vacation outfits I plan on wearing," she excitedly shared. For Max, life has always been about achieving a balance between hard work, and mindful living.
Leaving her family at 13 to study at Philippine Science in Davao City was her first step towards self-sufficiency. She then took up Public Health at the University of the Philippines Manila. Despite being a high achiever, she stresses that her success isn't solely on her, “It was a synergy of hard work, a lot of love and support from my family and friends, and a big spoonful of chance. Yes, I worked hard. But I’ve always had help along the way. I was never on my own, even when I thought I was.”
After passing the board exams, her path led her to successively "moonlight" - taking on freelance roles in clinics, and getting paid hourly - on the islands of Boracay and Siargao. This was her way of doing the two things she loved: helping people and traveling. Eventually, she found herself back in Mati, her hometown, where she currently works as a Rural Health Physician. Rerooting back to Mati had also allowed her the space to nurture her love for books (a whole wall of them), to further her yoga practice, and most importantly, to spend time with her parents and their many furry companions.
Max’s dog Cookie
On her childhood in Mati
I had so much fun growing up in Mati. It was just a small town but it was my whole world back then. Most of my friends lived close by and we'd visit each other's houses as often as we could. Every other weekend was a trip to the beach with my family. We'd fill this big laundry basket with all sorts of food; fresh fish for kinilaw, marinated meat for grilling, boiled kamote and plantain, pancit, and rice. I remember my favorite place back then was Guang-Guang. The mangrove trees formed a kind of boundary around the turquoise waters, giving it this magical almost ethereal feeling.
On her funniest med school memory
Back when I was a clerk, I was called the “angel of death” because for some reason the majority of patients assigned to me would somehow expire. It seems morbid now and a bit cruel to joke about this but we find ways to cope somehow.
At the time, I was a clerk rotating in Neuro going around the Emergency Room looking for this patient assigned to me when a guardian (‘bantay’) called my attention and asked me to check on another patient at the ER resuscitation bay. The patient was unconscious, intubated, and had very laborious breathing. It didn’t look good. I went over and checked her pulse, which was all I could do at that point. When I felt that she still had one, I told her bantay and left. A few minutes later I came back and everything was in chaos. The patient had coded (no heart rate, no blood pressure) and a group of student nurses were panicking, trying to do chest compressions, obviously unsure what to do. I looked around and there were no doctors, no nurses, no one at all. “Who’s going to do the rhythm check?” one of them shrieked. The rhythm check is usually done by a doctor (not a med student) to essentially examine if the patient was brought back to life or if there is any sign of life at all. I hesitated for a split second and decided to do what I could (which was not much as I have only ever seen a rhythm check being done by a doctor a couple of times). I ran to the patient and pulled out my stethoscope from my little sling duty bag causing a piece of my lunch (a big yellow cavendish banana) to fly out of my bag and roll on the floor and under the gurney. No time for that now. A few seconds later, the chief resident finally showed up and yelled at the bunch of us “What do you think you’re doing?!” We probably looked like deer caught in headlights at this point. “You think you can run a code on your own?!” The resident looks at me, points, and says “You! Who are you?” To which I replied, “I’m a clerk… I was just trying to help,” slowly backing away.
I discreetly slipped away from that situation as quickly as I could while the resident berated the poor student nurses because I didn’t want to get in trouble. I have no idea if the patient made it but I will never forget that incident.
I also have no idea what happened to my banana.
On what influenced her to become a doctor
When I was in high school, most of my classmates wanted to take a pre-med course in college and I guess I kind of just hopped on the bandwagon. One of my favorite subjects back then was biology so I figured, if studying about the human body interests me, that will probably come in handy in studying medicine.
“Now with the wisdom of hindsight, I realize I was led to this path as much by chance as hard work”
On taking time with life decisions
I had somehow managed to muster some courage [to let] my curiosity instead of my fear take over after passing the board exams. Instead of doing what everybody else was going to do - which was to go into residency for a specialization - I started asking myself, what would make me happy? What do I want? And since I couldn’t figure it out yet, I decided to take a gap year and moonlight as a doctor. This way, I get to work, gain experience, earn good money, and see more of the Philippines all at the same time. It was one of the best things that ever happened in my life.
I saw how much more there was to life, how many more things I wanted to do, and places I wanted to go. I realized that the drive to further my studies and proceed to residency just wasn't enough. I realized that I cannot do well in something that I am not 100% passionate about.
Finally, I was able to get a job in the City Health Office where I felt more at home. As a Public Health graduate, working in the community felt like a better fit for me.
On being a Rural Health Physician
In my line of work, I am not only treating individual patients but I am treating whole communities by implementing programs that will prevent them from getting sick and making health services more accessible to them. The best part is that I get to help people, I have the chance to give them a better quality of life, and I can effect change in my community.
Currently, as the Adolescent Health and Development Program Coordinator, I am working on opening a Teen Center. We have recently been certified as a Level 1 Adolescent Friendly Health Facility. We're now going to focus on completing the requirements to be certified as a Level 2 AFHF. I'm also working on starting teen desks at every barangay health center to make our services more accessible for these teens. Eventually, we will also have these teen desks certified into Level 1 AFHFs.
On her morning routine
For the past few months I've been waking up early around 5 or 6 am to do my yoga practice and then basically have 30 minutes to rush to work and get there on time.
On her yoga practice
I first discovered yoga in Siargao. I had a patient who was a yoga teacher and she invited me to one of her classes and I have loved it ever since. What drew me to it was the spiritual side which I felt I needed in my life.
I’m currently in the phase of my yoga practice where I’m chasing all these fancy poses that look “cool” in pictures – handstands, crazy backbends, etc. But beyond that (and more importantly), I’m also learning the discipline and devotion that it takes to sustain a yoga practice. It goes beyond the physical, it teaches me to persevere, and to balance my frustrations with acceptance that not everything will come easy. It gives me strength beyond the physical and allows me to understand my body more deeply.
I am also doing my yoga teacher training online to get a certificate to be able to teach yoga and share this amazing practice with others.
On her early memories of reading
My mom would read to us at night just before bed and make all the different voices. It was one of my favorite things to look forward to every day. Every time we'd go to Davao, we would always visit Book Sale and while my mom would take her time rifling through the adult fiction section, I'd run to the kids’ aisle and pick the books I wanted.
On her favorite books
Ohh this one is hard. I love the classics! Some of my favorite authors include Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Thomas Hardy. But I also love reading pop fiction like books by Sally Rooney, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Hanya Yanagihara, etc. I also read non-fiction books like Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, Emperor of All Maladies, and books by Malcolm Gladwell.
Currently, Jane Eyre, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Bell Jar, The Catcher in the Rye… I can’t decide!
On strategic reading
When I’m reading something “intimidating” I like to use this website called LitCharts which guides me through the literature, summarizing chapters, analyzing themes, and highlighting important events in the book that I could have otherwise missed. I like the idea that I’m delving deeper into the book, that there are layers of stories in between the words that I can discover if I just look closer. I started doing this because I hate the thought that I would read something and miss out on the full experience that a book could offer.
On dedicating social media accounts for her hobbies
I didn’t want to bombard my friends with yoga videos, and book reviews so I decided to make separate accounts for them. The best thing that I got from this is finding friends and connections from all over the world who share similar interests. I believe that things are enjoyed better when you share them with others. It also holds me accountable to be consistent in my practice and my hobbies.
On the philosophy she lives by when pursuing her interests
One of my yoga teachers taught me the concept of discipline and devotion. You devote your time and efforts to your practice/hobby and cultivate discipline by being consistent and everything else will follow. I love the idea of being present in the moment and enjoying what you are doing for what it is — not thinking about what came before and not obsessing about what could come after.
