24 January 2013 Last updated at 06:01 ET By Kate McGeown BBC News, Philippines

The little health clinic in the town of Tanauan, on the rural island of Leyte, is often so full of patients that some have to wait outside.

Ryan Almirez is one of only two doctors steadily working his way through the crowds.

Technically, he is still a trainee and due to qualify next year. But he's already seen as an essential member of the team.

The people of Tanauan are lucky to have Ryan.

Most of us come from poor families. We wouldn't have become health professionals if it were not for the school

Most Philippine doctors prefer to work in the cities, where they can supplement their government incomes by taking on private patients.

Still others - at least 11,000 since 2000 - have retrained as nurses and gone abroad, earning four or five times as much as they would as a doctor back at home.

But Ryan is not a typical medical student, and neither will he become a typical doctor.

He is enrolled in the University of the Philippines' School of Health Sciences, which is based down the road from Tanauan.

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