Tina Tan
We have all asked "Dr Google" for advice before. I doubt there is anyone reading here who has not done so. It is quick, easy and readily available at our fingertips, especially now that Google can generate an "artificial intelligence (AI) overview" with links included. That being said, one pitfall is the staggeringly vast amount of information available – a balance must be achieved between patients (who have a right to empower themselves) and healthcare professionals (who would be considered domain experts).
This month, Dr Clive Tan and Dr Chie Zhi Ying share their perspectives on how doctors can work with patients on health literacy, even as we progress into a world with increasing reliance on AI as well as increasing amounts of misinformation. Similarly, Dr Miina Ohman and her team have written about the role of evidence-based lifestyle medicine and how it is more than just "common sense".
Meanwhile, Dr Ng Chee Kwan has stepped down after a three-year tenure as SMA President, with Dr Daniel Lee Hsien Chieh taking over the reins. Congratulations, Dr Lee!
Clive Tan
New discoveries in health and healthcare are happening at a rapid pace, and keeping up with the science of medicine, doctoring and healing in the current day can be daunting. As health knowledge is increasingly democratised through the Internet and AI technology, the skill of health communication grows in complexity and importance as both a preventive and a remedy for misinformation. Doctors are valued by patients and the wider community as a stronghold of trust, knowledge and shared values – we need to work hard as a community and profession to keep that trust. In this issue, we feature several perspectives on health communications in the era of new discoveries and AI: snapshots of our thoughts in 2026 and a peek into the futures that we are tunnelling towards.
