Season 0
Pilot Episodes
We start our journey by talking to people closest to us, in an environment most familiar to us: school.
Join us, as we reflect by talking to key teaching faculty and students about their philosophies. In this series, we set the groundwork to explore other topics in our later seasons.
Ying Ying
NUS Medical student
EP 2
What does one do on a Gap Year?
Ann Hui, Ying Ying and Caitlin, three NUS medical students, share their experiences undertaking the Yale-Visiting International Students Program during their gap year.
Amongst the three of them, they explored a diverse set of courses. Now that they are back in Singapore, they share about how they are adapting what they have learned to the local context to be better informed medical students and future doctors. They also reflect on their initial motivations for taking a year off medical school and offer some advice to fellow students who aspire to go beyond their calling in medicine.
Listen to this episode on Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast.
Caitlin O’Hara
NUS Medical student
Prof Malcolm Mahadevan
Assistant Dean of NUS Medicine
Senior Consultant, NUH Emergency Medicine
EP 3
What medical school doesn’t teach you:
Organising in a Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic descended upon Singapore in January 2020 and healthcare professionals across Singapore quickly rose up to the challenge - but what does it take to handle such a situation?
Prof Malcolm Mahadevan, shares about his ground involvement in community isolation facilities and how his past volunteering stint with migrant workers better informs his handling of the situation. Reflecting upon his time working at the National University Hospital Emergency Department, he talks about the the need to balance handling urgent practical concerns with engaging with his patients sincerely.
Just like the rest of us, Prof Mahadevan has also faced some uncertainty in these unprecedented times, but he shares how he has come to terms with these anxieties and continues to fulfil his duties with conviction.
Listen to this episode on Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast.
Episode 4
How to be happy in medical school:
relational-based and future-oriented curriculum changes
Just as every creature on this planet has ikigai (one’s reason for being), every individual that seeks the path of medicine also has their own motivation. Prof Lau Tang Ching, shares sagely advice on how students can achieve their ikigai in medicine – one of which is forging strong and long-lasting relationships with our peers.
He gives us an exciting glimpse into the upcoming changes to the medical school’s curriculum at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels (inter-professional opportunities, healthcare analytics, and more).
Find out how theology and tai chi have also shaped his worldview and influenced how he practices medicine.
Listen to this episode on Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast.
Prof Lau Tang Ching
Vice-Dean of Education at NUS Medicine;
Senior Consultant in Rheumatology
Prof Tan Kong Bing
Senior Consultant in Pathology
Episode 5:
How to care for students?: mental wellbeing and feedback
The road to becoming a good doctor is not an easy one, and can take a toll on one’s mental health.
Having recently stepped down as Phase II Director, Prof Tan Kong Bing reflects upon his proudest achievements, especially his efforts in student engagement and supporting medical students who face mental health struggles. Prof Tan discusses the importance of student feedback, and gives us behind the scenes insights as to how feedback from students become instrumental in enacting curriculum change.
Listen to this episode on Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast.
EP 6
Why is equality and access to medical education important?
Over the years, medicine has transformed into a field with increasing diversity, with increasing efforts to address the various barriers to access that has deterred many individuals in the past from embarking on this profession.
In this episode, Dr Chong Yeh Woei shares with us how the Singapore Medical Association Charity Fund (SMACF) provides financial assistance to medical students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Recognising the various barriers needy medical students or potential medical school applicants deterred by the cost of a medical education might encounter, the SMACF aims to provide access for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue medicine and fully focus on studies by easing both financial and psychological difficulties. He also shares his thoughts on how the medical community can further address inequality, through active civic participation.
Listen to this episode on Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast.
Dr Chong Yeh Woei
Chairman of the Singaporean Medical Association Charity Fund (SMACF)
Enjoyed these episodes?
Check out our other seasons here.