Written by Jiovanni T. Diaz, RMT, MSMT, MSc
“Pa, hindi lang kalabaw ang gusto kong sakyan.” Says a young boy who saw an airplane flying by while riding a carabao with his father going to work. Jiovanni T. Diaz is an alumnus of the University of Baguio School of Natural Sciences, a Registered Medical Technologist with a double masters of Master of Science in Medical Technology and Master of Science in Molecular Medical Biology. He is the eldest among his siblings. His father was a farmer and his mother is a vegetable vendor. Mr. Diaz’s journey to success was not easy and he was able to achieve all of his accomplishments through hard work, perseverance, and with the love and support of those around him.
Without much money to afford college, his siblings had to stop their education for him to be able to afford college and through UB’s Student Tuition Assistance Recipients Scholarship (UBSTAR). Mr. Diaz was one of the exemplary students of the School of Natural Sciences at the time. During his sophomore year and with the help of one of his instructors, he was able to be part of the fifteen Safeguard-PAMET scholars in the entire Philippines. While studying, Mr. Diaz was also working at night for his daily needs. At some point, there was this certain pressure that he felt on how he’ll be able to juggle his studies, maintain a certain grade to keep his scholarship, and his job. Comes his last semester before his internship, where he failed to maintain his grade in 3 of his major subjects and lost his scholarship in the process. Giving up is easy but Mr. Diaz was steadfast in moving forward with his internship. These three major subjects later became his highest yield on his board exam, with a line of 9 for each subject.
During his internship, a kind sponsor helped him finance his first semester and was able to re-apply his scholarship during the second semester. Mr. Diaz maintained his grades despite him simultaneously working at night, tutoring his batchmates for extra income, studying for his comprehensive exams, and attending his duties at the clinical laboratory. And it may seem like a movie, but 2 months before his board exam, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the clinical laboratory and lost his father a month before his graduation. Mr. Diaz successfully passed the Medical Technology Licensure Examination in 2016 and was given an Academic Excellence Gold Medal Award from the Philippine Association of Schools of Medical Technology and Public Health Inc. (PASMETH) during his graduation.
After his licensure exam, he became the breadwinner of his family and financed one of his sibling’s education, who also took up a Bachelor in Science of Medical Laboratory Science and graduated in 2022. While financing for his family, Mr. Diaz was able to secure a scholarship for his masters. During this time, he was teaching part-time at 3 universities in Manila and also at a board review center during weekends.
Through a full scholarship, Mr. Diaz currently resides in Sweden for his further studies. He was recently awarded for his research and contribution for SDG 3 (Sustainable Development Goals 3: Good health and Well-being) given by the Network for Global Professionals, Swedish Institute at the Stockholm City Hall.
At present, Mr. Diaz is continuing with his research that aims to develop novel assays to detect Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus autoantibodies. Together with his team, they are developing 3 novel assays such as following:
- A technique that uses the principle of Click Chemistry and was named as Fluorescence ImmunoClick-IT Assay (FLICK)
- TSPAN7 Antibody Detection by Agglutination PCR) ADAP
- Maltose Binding Protein (MBP) – full- VAMP2 Competitive Radiobinding Asssay
And if you ask Mr. Diaz what motivated him to continue despite all of the difficulties he faced, he only has one answer. Family.
“Despite being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes just two months before my board exam, losing my father suddenly a month before my university graduation, and taking on the responsibility of being the family’s breadwinner in my early 20s, I persevered. Juggling three part-time university jobs on weekdays and a review center side hustle on weekends, I never stopped moving forward. I managed to put my sibling through college and in 2022, he successfully passed the Medical Technology board exam. I decided then to pursue my own dreams, which had been put on hold while I provided for my family. Securing a full scholarship to study in Sweden, I realized that every painful experience had a purpose. Pinatatag ako ng mga challenges na iyon. I learned to trust the process, understanding that everything unfolds in perfect timing. I’m still a work in progress, pero looking back, I can see na nakalayo-layo na rin pala ako.”
