Notes from 8 May 2023 event "Chat with Alumni: Is Medicine for Me?" featuring Charlein Ho and Lim Sheng Yang

Charlein Ho

• Profile

  • • JC

      1. • 20S7B, BCMCsc, BSP, SMTP

         • Floorball

    • NUS Medicine, started in 2022

• Some great points from her sharing:

• Wanting to help people is not enough of a reason to do medicine. There are many other careers that meet this criteria. In fact, some other careers might allow you to effect change on a more macro level and help many more people.

• Take initiative to learn about the career you want. Volunteer, join related events, and talk to seniors, ECG counsellors, family, and friends to get different perspectives.

• Take initiative to reflect and be honest with yourself. You can convince your interviewers, family, and friends that you want to do medicine, but most importantly you must convince yourself, because you are the one who will live with the consequences.

• There are parallels between bio in JC and medicine in Uni but there are differences too. It’s actually a bit more similar to secondary school biology topics covered at greater depth. So, H2 physics students are not at a huge disadvantage to H2 biology students. What you should ask yourself is if you are curious about the human body and how it works or how it can go wrong.

• There is no one fixed correct answer to whether you should do medicine or not.

• Find her sharing slides here.

Lim Sheng Yang

• Profile

  • • JC

      1. • 13S7G

         • Huang Cheng

    • NUS Medicine, started in 2015

• Some great points from his sharing:

  • • Being a doctor is a lot harder than getting into med school.

      1. • There is a lot of content to learn, and the content keeps changing. The content is extremely applicable to your work, so it can feel rewarding to learn. But you have to really enjoy it, as you will be studying after work and taking examinations until you’re 40.

         • Work-life balance is difficult, because there is a shortage of doctors in Singapore. This is a systemic issue that may take decades to change. As an intern, he once left work at 11pm after starting the day at 4am. He has also worked 21 days with no rest days in between. While it’s possible to have lunch every day, it normally doesn’t happen for many doctors.

    • If you want to be a doctor, you have to be able to work with people, even people you don’t like. Doctors do get verbally abused by angry patients. Even if you don’t like a patient, you still need to interact with them and make sure they follow your medical advice. Being able to communicate well is crucial.

    • If you want to be a doctor, you have to be able to deal with gross things or disturbing situations. Expect to see blood, urine, and other fluids, and smell really bad smells. Be prepared to witness patient deaths, expected and unexpected -- this, on top of the strenuous workload, can take a heavy toll on some people’s mental health.

    • While most med students in Singapore become doctors after graduating, it’s not the only option. Some decide to become healthcare consultants, join med tech or drug companies.

    • Money is a non-reason for going into medicine. Doctors used to be one of the most highly paid professions, but not anymore. The hourly pay is about $5.