Non-Fiction and Short Story categories of the 3rd Rotor Literary Awards.
PHYSICIANS do not just write prescriptions, reports, and journal articles. Some also write short stories and creative non-fiction, and these works were once again recognized at the 3rd Dr. Arturo B. Rotor Memorial Awards for Literature.
The annual ceremony, which the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) started in 2022, honors the intersection of medicine and literature and provides internists across the country with the chance to showcase their writing. It is named after Dr. Arturo B. Rotor, a physician known for his contributions in both the medical field and literature spanning the 1930s up to the ’70s.
This year, the categories were creative non-fiction and the short story.
Dr. Rey Isidto, a nephrologist from Iloilo City, won the former with his heartfelt essay “To Remember,” dedicated to a childhood friend who had passed on.
“It’s a very personal piece because it reflects on the friendship between two people and talks about memory, loss, and the impact of illness,” he told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of the awarding ceremony on Oct. 17.
On why doctors seem to be natural storytellers, he said, “Part of diagnosing our patients comes from not taking things at a surface level. We need to dig deep, and that attention to detail helps a lot.”
Dr. Elvie Victonette Razon-Gonzalez, a gastroenterologist and epidemiologist from Iloilo City, won the short story category with “Munificence,” about a young mother diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
“I wrote it from the perspective of a patient instead of a doctor. I’ve always been fascinated by works that dive deep into the human spirit, and how man confronts death,” she explained.
She told BusinessWorld that because medicine is a demanding job that requires discipline, her writing would usually take a backseat. “It was the pandemic that revived my passion for writing. But it has always been my natural inclination: to observe, to introspect, to meditate.”
Both winners took part in the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Workshop for Doctors, which also began during the COVID-19 pandemic, helmed by poet Marjorie Evasco with Dr. Lance Isidore Catedral and Dr. Joey Tabula in the panel.
As fellow doctors from Iloilo City, the two winners also regularly consult with each other on their writing. “My advice for doctor-writers is to find a good writing buddy. We check each other’s stuff and it helps with our craft,” Dr. Isidto said.
HEART AND SOUL OF MEDICINEThe Dr. Arturo B. Rotor Memorial Awards for Literature, while relatively new, documents a long tradition of “doctors reclaiming their heart and soul in the lens of literature,” said Dr. Noel Pingoy, one of the screening judges.
“This is the confluence of two powerful forces, medicine and storytelling,” he told the press at the event. “It is a reflection of the humanity, vulnerability, and wisdom that underpins our practice.”
He and the two winners emphasized how doctors must be both healers and human beings, with empathy and compassion as important tenets.
Dr. Rotor, for whom the award was named, may be best known for discovering a rare form of jaundice called the Rotor Syndrome and for serving as the postwar secretary of the Department of Health, but the PCP aims to convey that his literary works are equally important.
His contributions to literature include Confidentially, Doctor (1965), Selected Stories from the Wound and The Scar (1973), and The Men Who Play God (1983). His writing earned him a Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1966.
“These awards carry his legacy,” Dr. Pingoy said, “But they also serve as a reminder that, with literature, we not only heal bodies but also touch souls.”
The entries from the 1st Rotor Literary Awards were compiled by the PCP in an anthology titled Rx Narratives: Anthology of Creative Nonfiction of Filipino Internists, edited by Dr. Joey Tabula, Dr. Noel Pingoy, and Dr. Sandra Tankeh-Torres. It is a finalist for the Best Anthology in English category in the upcoming 42nd National Book Awards. — Brontë H. Lacsamana
CREATIVE NON-FICTION1st Prize — “To Remember” by Dr. Rey Isidto
2nd Prize — “To Tita, My Patient” by Dr. Boby Jay Cueva
3rd Prize — “I am a 58-Year-Old Ballerina Doctor” by Dr. Maria Angeli Pamintuan
SHORT STORY1st Prize — “Munificence” by Dr. Elvie Victonette Razon-Gonzalez
2nd Prize — “Nap9” by Dr. Lance Isidore Catedral
3rd Prize — “The Road Not Taken” by Dr. Marie Louise Emille Largoza