Some people spend a career mastering a single skill. Others keep rebuilding themselves, trading hard-won expertise in one role for the uncertainty of the next. Alma Hular Ducay belongs firmly to the second group — and at 50, with 16 years abroad behind her, she has the track record to prove it works.
Today she is a Quality Management Specialist and Quality and Risk Manager at Health and Life Medical Complex, responsible for accreditation standards under CBAHI, the Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions. It is a precise, high-stakes discipline. But it is not where she started.
From the bedside to the boardroom
Alma’s career began far from the world of audits and accreditation scores. She worked as a staff nurse at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Sta. Mesa, Manila, then as a company nurse in Dasmariñas, Cavite. Along the way she earned a master’s degree in nursing, specializing in Nursing Services Administration, and moved into teaching as a clinical instructor and nurse educator.
That academic grounding became her passport. On April 11, 2010, she left for Saudi Arabia to take up a post as Nurse Educator at Dr. Khalid Idriss Hospital in Jeddah — her first job overseas, and one she would hold for three years.
Her reasons for leaving were not only financial. “I chose to pursue employment outside my home country to gain broader professional experience, enhance my skills, and work in a healthcare system that offers opportunities for continuous learning and career growth,” she shares with TGFM. The appeal of working abroad, she admits plainly, also included “the compensation that every healthcare professional deserves.”
Climbing through the system
What followed was a steady ascent. From educator, Alma rose to Chief Nursing Officer at Gulf General Medical Complex in Hail City, a role she held for five years. From there she pivoted again — this time into quality management, spending four years as a Quality Officer across Gulf General and its sister facility, Zamzam General Medical Complex. She added certifications in Hail and the Eastern Region of Dammam, eventually becoming a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.
It is a field she has grown to love precisely because she built her expertise the hard way. “I have chosen this field for the advancement of my skills and to share my knowledge and experience, especially in accreditation standards,” she says. The payoff comes at a specific moment: “The most satisfying aspect of work is when every healthcare facility that I prepared for accreditation passed with the highest score granted by CBAHI.”
The cost behind the credentials
The titles and certifications tell a tidy story. The years behind them were harder. Alma speaks candidly about homesickness and the long stretches of living alone, far from the people she loves. Her steadiness came from two sources. “First is prayers for daily living and spiritual guidance,” she says, alongside her connection to family back home — “especially my mom and daughter.”
Looking ahead, she wants to travel, start a business, and eventually return to supporting her family from within the Philippines rather than across an ocean.
Her advice to fellow Filipinos abroad is unembellished and hard-earned. “Continue to work hard, stay humble, and take care of your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being,” she says. “Save and invest wisely. Remember that every sacrifice you make today can help build a better tomorrow for you and your family.”
