Hear From Our Residents

"There are many good teachers, not just among the consultants but also the junior staff, who have made a difference to my learning. I now look back and feel extremely thankful for the growth I have achieved with their guidance."

I did my postings as a SingHealth PGY1 in SGH General Surgery, CGH Internal Medicine and CGH Orthopaedics, and I embarked on these postings with the aim of applying for General Surgery Residency.

SingHealth is arguably the busiest cluster with a very high patient volume for most of the PGY1 posting departments. The workload can get very heavy but it also provides for abundant learning opportunities. The system has helped me learn to better function under stressful conditions and become more efficient in my work. Remaining in the same institution also meant being able to develop greater familiarity with the institutional ethos and understanding of how things work here.

I am fortunate to have met mentors and seniors, both within and beyond general surgery, who have become my role models and encouraged me as I pursue my aspirations. There are many good teachers, not just among the consultants but also the junior staff, who have made a difference to my learning. I now look back and feel extremely thankful for the growth I have achieved with their guidance.

Additional perks of having gone through the SingHealth PGY1 programme include:

1. Close support and care from the PGY1 Programme Executives - Administrative and logistics issues were much easier to sort out with their help!
2. Getting to befriend more colleagues across specialties - Trust me, this makes calling for referrals and facilitating cross-disciplinary care much easier - I used to fear calling other specialties as a young House Officer but now I look forward to doing so because I get to catch up with comrades whom I may not get the chance to meet regularly.
3. Additional opportunities for networking during PGY1 dinners and engagement sessions.

"The SingHealth PGY1 Programme provides a training experience to not only develop us as a clinician-in-training, under the guidance of seniors, but also to enable us to contribute back through opportunities in teaching and research, while always, truly, keeping patients at the heart of all we do."

Rotating as a SingHealth PGY1 was an immensely valuable experience that helped me to grow as a doctor while providing many opportunities to give back. There is a strong culture of mentorship within SingHealth, not only from Senior Faculty, but also from fellow Residents/Medical Officers and more senior PGY1s, with every colleague being willing to guide juniors through uncertainties and to lend a helping hand during challenging periods.

The breadth and variety of patients seen in SingHealth, coupled with the strong team spirit and teaching from seniors and peers, helped to build up my clinical understanding and judgment, which are crucial for preparation to become a Medical Officer at the end of PGY1.

SingHealth also offers many opportunities to give back and pass on the teaching that we have received, through workshops such as Project Inspire and the SIP bootcamp, which many of us ourselves benefited from in the past. The SingHealth PGY1 Programme provides a training experience to not only develop us as a clinician-in-training, under the guidance of seniors, but also to enable us to contribute back through opportunities in teaching and research, while always, truly, keeping patients at the heart of all we do.

"I feel fortunate and appreciative for the opportunities I get to be equipped in both clinical practice and research in preparation to serve as a clinician-scientist. It is a great privilege to help the sick more directly as a doctor and more indirectly as a researcher."

The learning experience in my PGY1 year with SingHealth has been enriching, due to the abundant learning opportunities and the great clinical learning environment. SingHealth also has a strong culture of mentorship and teaching, from the most senior doctors to even peers of a few months older, which makes the learning environment safe and positive. I am appreciative of the many seniors including consultants who have been very receptive of questions and willing to share their knowledge and thinking process generously and patiently. I also love the new initiatives that focus on constant improvements of the system and also the welfare of doctors, with patients always at the heart of all we do.

In addition, there are lots of research opportunities and growing research support within the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. As a MD-PhD, with great support from the programme, I have been able to continue to participate in my research and even form new collaborations with the clinicians whom I have met during my PGY1.

I feel fortunate and appreciative about the opportunities I have to get equipped in both clinical practice and research in preparation for serving as a clinician-scientist. It is a great privilege to help the sick more directly as a doctor and more indirectly as a researcher.

"In SingHealth, patient care is always prioritised above other commitments and this is a culture that is shared among the healthcare staff. This makes the daily work very fulfilling even if it is very busy."

My journey as a PGY1 in SingHealth was enriching and enjoyable. Whether it is in KKH, SGH or CCH, many of us will agree that most days are busy days, but it was through seeing patient after patient that we sharpened our clinical judgment, honed our clinical skills and built our character as a person.

Working under many inspiring seniors and alongside many hardworking comrades has made the journey very memorable. There are always people around, regardless of their levels of experience, who work tireless and strive to be better doctors and better people, and it encourages me to want the same.

Working in SingHealth hospitals has broadened my exposure to the healthcare landscape in Singapore. It has opened my eyes to see the needs of the patients and see how the medical community continually tries to improve the quality of care and services to meet those needs.

There is actually a lot of learning after graduation from medical school. Apart from medical knowledge, we learn a variety of procedural skills, how to communicate well with fellow healthcare team members and with patients, how to function efficiently and safely as a House Officer, and how to prioritise among the many tasks competing for our time and attention. Working in SingHealth hospitals has definitely provided me with many opportunities to learn these things.

As a SingHealth PGY1, I was given my postings of choice which helped to achieve my learning goals; I was granted a posting in paediatrics which I was interested in pursuing, and was also granted an O&G posting which I requested for to gain exposure to fetal-maternal medicine which provides background understanding to neonatal medicine.

One of the major advantages of working in SingHealth hospitals is that there is no lack of cases for learning - on a daily basis we encounter both the common “bread and butter” cases as well as the rarer and more complex “weird and wonderful” cases.

Another characteristic of SingHealth which I truly appreciate is the patient-centredness. In SingHealth, patient care is always prioritised above other commitments and this is a culture that is shared among the healthcare staff. This makes the daily work very fulfilling even if it is very busy.

In my first postgraduate year, there were several welfare and feedback sessions held. We had opportunities to interact with Assoc Prof Lim Swee Han, the head of PGY1 Programme, who was always very keen to hear from us about our experiences and feedback as House Officers. During some of these sessions we also had opportunities to speak with Programme Directors from Residency programmes that we were interested in joining. Above all, these sessions also allowed us to bond with our fellow colleagues and friends, enhancing entire training experience.