The emergency room is where medicine stops being theoretical. A mother arrives without a pulse, a baby still inside her, and the clock decides everything. In that moment, the obstetrician who steps forward is Reena Riza Imperial De Guzman — and both mother and baby walked out alive.
She calls it the most unforgettable moment of her career so far, a perimortem cesarean section performed under the worst possible conditions. But ask her about the rest of the job and she describes it in far quieter terms.
A path she didn’t quite choose
The 41-year-old Specialist OBGYN at HMS Al Garhoud Hospital is candid about how she landed in medicine. “I didn’t entirely choose this profession on my own; my mother influenced me to take this path,” she says. “As it turns out, mothers truly do know best, and God places us exactly where we are meant to be.”
That surrender to circumstance shaped a career built on staying present. At Al Garhoud, Reena carries patients through the full arc of pregnancy. “If I see you during your first trimester, I will be by your side through your entire pregnancy, manage your delivery, and look after you during your postpartum recovery,” she explains — a continuity of care she clearly values. The clinic and the ward are both hers, and so is every stage in between.
What keeps her in the field isn’t the drama of the ER. It’s the conversation. “We don’t always just talk about medical problems; sometimes we discuss their lives, their journeys, and their experiences, both good and bad,” she says. For her, those connections are the reward, and the resolution of a medical concern is almost a bonus. Her view of the profession is stripped of ceremony: “Choosing medicine shouldn’t be about prestige—it is simply about the privilege to serve.”
Where the training really happened
Before the UAE, the OBGYN specialist spent years in the parts of the Philippine health system where resources run thin. After residency in a government hospital, she served across public health sectors including Batangas City, Antipolo, Cuyo in Palawan, and Romblon.
Those postings did more than fill a résumé. “Practicing in public healthcare settings has exposed me to a vast diversity of clinical cases, significantly honing my skills as both a clinician and a surgeon,” she says. The through-line of that period was simple and she names it plainly: delivering quality care to underserved communities where healthcare resources are scarce.
She’s been abroad for 3.7 years now, and the move wasn’t a dramatic reinvention. “I just chose another venue where I can still practice my profession and have the opportunity to build a better life for me and my family,” she says. Settling in came easily, in part because distance was already familiar. “I am used to be working far from home a lot.”
What she wants to leave behind
The appeal of the UAE, for her, is partly logistical. Paperwork gets done without a fight, and the tax-free salary doesn’t hurt. But her ambition points past the practical. She intends to keep caring for OFWs and patients of every nationality, and to show what Filipino healthcare professionals bring to the table — a specific blend of warmth, care, and excellence.
To kababayans struggling overseas, she offers something closer to conviction than advice. “No matter what hardships we currently experience, this season too shall pass,” she says. “We are fully capable of overcoming anything when we dedicate our minds and hearts to it.”
Her mantra fits the woman who runs toward the emergency and lingers over the ordinary conversation alike: kindness multiplies.
