Sandy is a Filipino physician with a medical degree, pathology training, and a professorship who works part-time as an executive assistant for a nurse in Los Angeles. She transcribes lectures, proofreads term papers, and handles admin work while raising a seven-year-old son and co-running a freediving company. She earns Manila GP rates remotely, which sustains her family.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Sandy and I'm a licensed physician in the Philippines. I'm also a part time executive assistant for a nurse taking up her Master's in Los Angeles, California. Hi guys. We are here in Bawan Batangas here at El Grego Resort and we're going to do some introduction to Freediving. Let's go. My employer is a very busy woman. She is employed as a full time nurse director at a home care company with more than 20 care facilities on the side. She does modeling for ad campaigns and magazine covers. She's also taking up her master's to become a family nurse practitioner.
Do not forget to pre equalize before going down.
So what we're doing right now is the two hour theory session which is done before the open water dive for her masterals. I organize her notes as well as make transcription for her lectures. I I also help her in some of her administrative work in home care facilities wherein my medical background fits. Our agreement is 20 hours a week for these tasks. So right now I'm proofreading the term paper that she wrote. I'm making sure that it is complete and compliant with EPA system. Her term paper is about the physiology and the pathophysiology of Endocrine system. I free dive two weekends a month since 2022. I'm the co founder of Alpha Freediving together with my partner Coach Sara Sam.
Can you tell us about your background?
In college I took up biz nursing and I graduated and passed the board exam in 2010. I continued to medical school, finished in 2015 and passed the physician licensure board exam as well. For the next four years I underwent anatomic and clinical pathology training in Philippine General Hospital. Hopefully I will be a licensed pathologist by next year. We just finished our TU lessons and after we had our lunch we usually do stretching to avoid in the open water.
How does your day look like in the morning?
I am a professor in anatomy in my alma mater University of the East Memorial Medical Center. I also work as a medical director for a clinic that handles overseas Filipino worker in the afternoon. I am also a project development officer for a government funded research in sudden unexplained nocturnal death or sons, also known as bangot in the Philippines. So what we're doing right now is we are briefing on how to wear their mask and pants so that they will be comfortable and ready in their first dinosaur. Despite my three responsibilities and my online job, I am currently still able to sleep six to seven hours a night and spend time with my son at the end of the day. Mom, how is it going there? Bye bye. Love you. That's my son, Kiko. He is seven years old. Unlike in the first world countries, physicians in the Philippines are not well compensated. And I barely make ends meet being a single mother. My partner passed away in 2021, and a friend of mine insisted that I try freediving to take my mind off of things. And it really did help. And it still lost actually underwater. I feel like I'm at peace and I feel like I'm flying and seeing those corals and fishes and other marine creatures, it makes me feel insignific, as if I'm not the center of the world and there are a lot more important things than my worries. And when I'm underwater, I'm free.
What advice would you give to employers looking to hire online Filipino specialists?
So my advice is that if you really want to get the loyalty of your online Filipino specialist, try to get to know them and try to build relationships with them so that when the situation gets hard, I assure you that they will have your back. So we had our first session and the students are learning fast. I was able to relax. It's like after working for a week, I feel recharged after diving. My employer in la, she pays me an hourly rate at par with the rate of general practitioners in Manila. It has been such a big help to live the lifestyle that I want and to provide for my son's needs. Thank you for watching A Day in the Life of An ofs.
