Viral 'OB Queen' uses 'Pantropiko' to simplify nursing review lectures

Photo courtesy of Haydee Bacani 

A lecturer from South Caloocan made a parody of BINI's hit song "Pantropiko" to make nursing review more approachable to students. 

Haydee Bacani, a registered midwife and nurse, debuted as the internet’s "OB Queen" -- as dubbed by her students and later the public -- for her unique teaching strategy of incorporating music during comprehensive lectures.

"Ang Bebi Mo," her parody which discussed the 1-10 Lunar Months Development of Baby and the Department of Health's 4 steps of the Unang Yakap program, went viral on social media after it was posted by one of her students. 

"You have to incorporate fun, interest, innovation, inspiration, motivation, aside sa mga high-yield information na need nila sa board exam," Bacani said.

"Dapat I will be able to reach both the highly intelligent, the average, and the nahihirapan sa studies at the same time. Dapat iisa [ang] makita ko sa evaluation. Ang goal ko is matuto sila but at the same time mag-enjoy," she added.

Bacani expressed her desire to reach her students' different levels of intelligence through her compositions. She said her goal is to make topics understandable and easy to memorize until the board exam despite the intense pacing during review.

"Ang Bebi Mo" is her 10th parody song for OB topics discussion. Some of her previous works tackled topics such as the menstrual cycle, bleeding in pregnancy, and stages of labor, using music from ABBA, Leona Lewis, and Lola Amour. 

"This is an answered prayer for me -- to be able not only to teach but also to inspire and motivate the next PilipiNars," Bacani said when asked about her purpose.

"Patients may already have forgotten my name back when I was still working in hospitals. But in teaching, I believe that if my past students will see me somewhere in the future, they’ll recognize me and say, 'Ma’am, naging student mo ko. RN na po ako.' Which is actually nangyayari ngayon -- sa mall, sa beach, minsan sa eroplano," she shared. 

After topping the Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam in July 2021, Bacani began teaching at review centers -- on top of being a midwife and a nurse -- to broaden her scope of contributing to healthcare and to the community.

"May mga students na pasuko na, last na raw dapat niya ‘yon na pasok, balak mag-stop. Minsan suicidal na pala. Pero after ka nila ma-meet at madinig nila [ang] kuwento ko, they gained strength and motivation to pursue," she said. 

"They message me after lectures at kahit sobrang pagod ako, habang nasa plane or biyahe ako, binabasa ko sila at tumutulo luha ko kasi I found a deeper purpose," she added.

Beyond parody creation, Bacani embraces the calling of her profession as she is becoming a part of every student nurse's journey.