
2019 UPDATE:
‘So You Want To Be a Doctor’ medical seminar is back on 25 May 2019 (Saturday)!
Most of us associate a medical degree with taking courses in anatomy and physiology. But will textbook learning be adequate preparation for tomorrow’s doctors?
Come hear from nine doctors about their unique career paths in life, such as starting a healthcare charity, serving as ringside doctor at ONE Championship fights, and supporting women doctors across Singapore.
Click here to buy tickets for the 2019 edition from doctalks2019.peatix.com now!
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AsianScientist (Jul. 24, 2018) – Dramas like ER, Grey’s Anatomy and House may make for good entertainment, but to really know what doctors do, nothing beats hearing directly from the professionals themselves. Bringing real-world insights on the medical profession were seven speakers at Wildtype Media Group’s So You Want To Be A Doctor? seminar, held at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House of the National University of Singapore (NUS) on July 21, 2018. The event was attended by a full-house crowd of more than 300 aspiring medical students and their parents.
In his opening keynote address, Professor Wong Tien Yin, medical director of the Singapore National Eye Center and academic chair of the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program at Duke-NUS Medical School, gave a broad overview of the healthcare landscape in Singapore. He highlighted aging populations and an increasing demand for intermediate and long-term care as critical pressures faced by healthcare systems today.
To cope with these challenges, technologies such as artificial intelligence are being integrated into the workflow of medical professionals, who now need to be savvy with data and more open to collaborations with scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs.
“Gone are the days where the interaction is just between doctors and patients. The intersection [of multiple scientific disciplines] is now needed in medicine,” said Wong.
Going above the call of duty
But being a doctor is not just about treating patients. Many doctors champion worthwhile causes outside the wards, as evidenced by the speakers at the first panel discussion titled ‘Is Medicine For Me?’
For instance, Dr. Isaac Liu of the National University of Singapore dedicates his spare time to the Shaw-National Kidney Foundation Children’s Kidney Center Annual Camp. As the chief doctor of the Camp, he enables young kidney patients to enjoy activities that they would normally be excluded from, like kayaking and rock-climbing.
“When I joined the camp, I got to know these children as people, not patients. They were individuals with personalities and a lot of zest for life,” said Liu.
Literally going the extra mile to make a difference in patients’ lives is Dr. Kumaran Rasappan, senior orthopedic surgical resident at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore, who in 2012 became the first Singaporean to scale Mount Everest for a charitable cause. His expedition raised more than S$40,000 (~US$30,000) for needy patients.
“A lot of times, what’s keeping patients in the wards is not the medical problem, but the social issues, such as the lack of money or family to care for them, or their inability to function in the community,” he explained. Rasappan noted that although his one-year hiatus to prepare for the Everest expedition has put him behind his peers in terms of his medical career, he doesn’t regret a moment of it.
Emergency medicine physician Dr. Tiah Ling of Changi Hospital Singapore had experiences that were just as exotic. She participated in medical missions to Afghanistan and Ghana, providing technical support and training, as well as monitoring and evaluation of health facilities under challenging and resource-limited circumstances.
“People in some of these communities tend to listen to you more when you try to make changes to their health systems [knowing that you are a doctor from Singapore],” said Tiah.

From bench to bedside and beyond
Given the fact that medicine is built on a foundation of science, the seminar also featured doctors who wear a second hat as researchers. Assistant Professors Swaine Chen and Chester Drum of the National University of Singapore gave aspiring medical students a glimpse into the life of a clinician-scientist during their panel discussion themed ‘Is Clinical Research For Me?’
“There are a lot of benefits to having both MD and PhD degrees,” said Chen. “Medical training adds to your understanding of the diseases you study as a researcher.”
Drum agreed, adding that clinician-scientists have the satisfaction of helping patients and pursuing intellectually stimulating research questions.
“When doctors see patients, they make a linear impact on healthcare. But a discovery that changes how medicine is practiced can have an exponential impact,” said Drum. “Having said that, research takes a long time, so you have to be prepared to be in it for the long haul.”
Acknowledging the need to develop and sustain a pool of research talent is Dr. Benjamin Seet, executive director of the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. He overseas the largest pool of biomedical researchers in Singapore.
In a dialogue with editor-in-chief of Asian Scientist Magazine Dr. Juliana Chan, Seet described his circuitous path to where he is today. An ophthalmologist by training, he gave up medical practice decades ago and has since dabbled in research, served as chief medical officer of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York and earned the rank of Brigadier-General as chief of the Singapore Armed Forces Medical Corps.
Through it all, Seet said that knowing what he really wanted in life was immensely helpful when making decisions about his career. He also noted how influential people may not always give the best advice.
“I’ve been told three times in my life that I would be committing career suicide [when switching career paths], and I ignored the advice,” he said. Seet also cautioned against planning too far ahead because plans always change. When setting career goals, he advised the young audience: “Don’t be in a hurry to get there, and remember to enjoy the ride.”
2019 UPDATE:
Click here to buy tickets for the 2019 seminar at doctalks2019.peatix.com now!
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Cyril Ng/Wildtype Media Group.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.