07/26/2026
Different generations. Different Years. Same sambag tree
I think back to the different stages of a physician's career at our ASOCIMAI reunion — each of us at a different mile marker. Casey Quiza finishing up her pediatric residency and going into developmental pediatrics. Myself, now in my second year as an attending child psychiatrist. And in their golden years, Rennan Quijano and Angeli Quijano living on the southern coast of California, Estela Racoma and Pete Racoma up in the sun-baked basin of Vegas.
The reunion is a place to find people of different generations, different challenges. And yet you find something in common — the old "sambag" tree, and a culture of discipline that spared no one. Every generation has its own story of a first-year class thinned by graduation, proof of just how demanding CIM training could be — the 36-hour duties, the night calls.
We talked about the immense challenges of finding a residency program and navigating immigration to a whole different country. We talked about finances — what to do, and more importantly, what not to do with money. And we talked about the most important things: family, and patient care above all else.
There were candid and honest conversations "I almost quit medicine because ..." "I never thought I'd get here."
But one thing came up again and again: how much it matters to have people around you who lift you up — not just mentors, but peers too, especially during internship, when you need someone beside you as much as someone ahead of you.
I'm just thankful to be part of such an organization, an alumnus, and a part of the CIM culture — for one more reunion where the old sambag tree still holds all of us, at whatever stage we're in.
If you haven't already, join us. Reconnect with your batch, meet alumni from every generation, and find your place under the sambag tree — follow ASOCIMAI and be part of the family.
