DR. WHO?
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
JOSELITO BALATBAT, MD
Aaron Burch
A
s a practicing obstetric anesthesiologist, Dr. Joselito Balatbat has helped bring life to Louisville for decades. Though
he grew up a continent away, he feels at home now in
Kentucky.
to become a physician like her.”
Born in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, Dr. Balatbat
was raised in a Catholic household with his father, Eduardo, mother,
Angelina, and younger brother, Jeffrey. Growing up, he spent much of
his time playing with his brother and reading about history, as some
of his favorite topics were the Roman Empire and the World Wars.
While in Manila, Dr. Balatbat
attended the University of Santo
Tomas for eight years beginning with pre-med courses in 1981. At
first, anesthesiology didn’t seem like his niche in medicine; instead,
he was leaning toward pediatrics.
Staying inside to read was a good thing as Dr. Balatbat grew up
in a tumultuous time for the Philippines. When he was eight years
old, martial law was declared by President Ferdinand Marcos to
quell political unrest. It would take nearly a decade before the law
was lifted.
“I wanted to be a neonatologist. Intubation and resuscitation
always scared me. But I had seen how composed and relaxed anesthesiologists were when helping patients. I told myself that the
way of addressing my fear was to go to a residency where they do
it all the time.”
“Manila was a simple city to live in. Martial law didn’t seem that
bad as a child. I believe the crime rate significantly dropped. But,
the unfavorable part was that human rights were abused. The government controlled the people and there was no more freedom to
speak or freedom of the press,” Dr. Balatbat explained. Although
the state of the country was in flux, it didn’t often come home to
the Balatbats. Instead, the boys grew up in the dental office where
their mother and father both worked. Although his parents wanted
young Joselito to follow in their footsteps, Dr. Balatbat would choose
to bring his medical experience to America instead.
After graduating in 1989 and completing an internship in general
medicine, he officially chose to pursue anesthesia and entered three
years of training in the Philippines.
“I became very familiar with the practice of dentistry but I wasn’t
that interested in becoming a dentist. I wanted to be more independent,” Dr. Balatbat explained. “My aunt, Erlinda, is a successful
anesthesiologist and I was quite impressed by what she was doing.
She actually influenced me to go into medical school and I chose
It was there he met his wife-to-be, Grace Maria, who was studying
in the same residency. They fell in love and were married during a
small ceremony in Manila. But the couple wouldn’t stay long.
Dr. Balatbat wanted to pursue a larger career in the United States.
By chance, he applied for an obstetric anesthesia fellowship at the
University of Louisville. He was accepted by the former chair of the
Department of Anesthesiology, Dr. Benjamin Rigor, and the couple
moved to America in 1995.
Although he had visited California a few times with his wife to
see her family, this would be a substantial change. Fortunately, in
the Philippines, many medical courses are taught in English.
(continued on page 30)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to Louisville Medicine’s member spotlight section, Dr. Who? In the interest of simply
getting to know each other as a society of colleagues, we’ll be highlighting random GLMS physicians on a
regular basis. If you would like to recommend any GLMS physician member to the Editorial Board for this
section, please e-mail [email protected] or call him at 736-6338.
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