We often ask children of their dreams when they grow up and they would usually answer that they wanted to be a doctor or become a very famous personality. For some, these ambitions slowly fade, but for others like Dr. Oliver Canlas, he pursued his lifelong dream even though he was inches to being a famous Philippine cager.

Looking at the statuesque Dr. Canlas, one may think that he really could easily be a basketball player. True enough, he played for the high school basketball team in his hometown of Pampanga. He was also in the training team of the University of Santo Tomas basketball varsity while he was in college. Balancing these two priorities, he eventually sacrificed his love for the sport when he felt that being a doctor runs strongly in his blood.

After his bachelor's degree in Pharmacy, he immediately went into medicine proper in the same university. Upon earning that much fancied MD on his name, he underwent General Surgery Residency Training at the Veteran's Hospital for the next 9 months. Only when his special girl (his wife now) convinced him to take Internal Medicine that he decided to venture into the field of Internal Medicine in St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC).  He was indeed a gem for the hospital when he topped the gastroenterology specialty board, a first for SLMC.

With a good training at hand, he went back to his Alma Mater, the University of Santo Tomas for training on Therapeutic Endoscopy and focused on Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography in the same institution.

Being part of Fortune CARE’s (FC) outstanding pool of accredited providers was a blessing in disguise for him. “Dr. Delos Reyes (FC Coordinator) called me up and asked me if I wanted to be accredited by your company. I immediately said yes,” he explains.He considers this a good opportunity to be honed more on his expertise and even be able to treat more patients.

Dr. Canlas is not an all work and no play person.  Aside from his doctor's responsibilities, he does his special hobby the best ... taking very good care of his family.  He and his wife (a Cardiologist in SLMC as well) is blessed with 2 wonderful kids, a 4 year-old son and 4 month-old daughter.  Now that's what we call excellent child spacing and family planning!  He was not even shy to admit that he cooks and do laundry at home.  This only proves that humility is a big virtue that Dr. Canlas has instilled in his persona.

A very down-to-earth Doctor Oliver is what FC members would have as their Gastroenterologist, he believes that all his clients are equal. He said, “The dictum that was inculcated with me is the patient who will least benefit from the procedure will usually suffer from its complications.” Hence, prudence in requesting procedures is the key. He believes that one shouldn’t be given a lesser service than the other. “I don’t want them to feel that they have patiently waited for their turn but they were not served.” he added.

As his patients could attest, his feet remain flat on the ground even though he is an experienced practitioner in the field. And no matter how many hardships he may have experienced, it didn't matter because he had the passion to make his childhood dream come true.

He really does look larger than life, but he never looks on his patient’s social strata but focuses on his job to give that healing touch ... truly a gentle giant from Pampanga.