Tan Yia Swam
I want to talk about identity this August. Identity as a Singaporean, as a doctor and as an SMA Member – how do you see yourself? What do you identify with? If you have moved overseas and worked for a few years, do you still feel like a Singaporean? If you have been a doctor for 50 years, what happens after you retire? If you speak up on issues that concern you, is that in your personal capacity or your professional capacity? As a consultant or a specialist? Or as a representative of the hospital? I am all of that, and more.
I welcome Ganesh – a young doctor with the moral courage to speak up for his beliefs – onto the SMA News Editorial Board as he joins us to serve the greater community.
Alex Wong
I am again privileged with the opportunity to co-edit an issue of SMA News. We live in a day and age where connectivity and teamwork is all the rage; our generation of healthcare professionals is constantly peppered by buzzwords such as "holistic care", "teamlets" and "multi-disciplinary meetings". The National Electronic Health Record has enhanced seamless care between Government institutions; but what does this mean for those of us in private practice? Are we doomed to continue practising outdated medicine in our little silo clinics writing quaint referral letters in archaic language? With our occasional "uplifting" only being the continuing medical education events forced upon us by Singapore Medical Council requirements?
Yet recent events have clearly shown that the world has changed. A private practitioner who is meted a disproportionately large fine might have suffered in silence in yesteryears. This time round, social media alerted the community to the event and a huge profession-wide outcry, backed by timely lobbying by our professional bodies, has resulted in justice and exoneration.
We now see how networking in the private practice community is possible in a way that was never so before. Even as I pen this, my handphone trills with messages that race across WhatsApp chat groups comprising several hundred doctors. Some seek legal and professional advice, while others share jokes and wishes for a good morning ahead.
It's clear to me that even without us realising, technology has crept in through the seams of our lives and empowered us physicians more than ever before. But this is only useful if we use this technology to actively reach out to each other and counter the passive – almost cynical – stoicism that has been the millstone on the neck of our profession for years past.
It's up to us to encourage our colleagues to be more active members of professional bodies, so that these bodies can represent and lobby for us effectively.
May we seize this opportunity to bring our profession forward.
Carpe diem.
Welcome On Board
Hello to the readers of SMA News and fellow physicians. It is indeed a privilege and honour to be on the SMA News Editorial Board and I sincerely appreciate this opportunity.
For better or for worse, Singapore tends to hurtle through change at a rapid pace. We've seen that in our economy, society and infrastructure, and we're presently seeing that in our healthcare ecosystem. Change can be a rather anxiety-inducing thing, but I look forward to making sense of it all in concert with all of you. What I hope shall always remain constant is our undying passion to serve and to foster the betterment of our patients.