SingHealth

In many medical situations, surgeons and doctors are probably the first people you’d think of. But they don’t work alone.

By Catherine GS Lim

CHARMAINE CHEN, SingHealth Scholar
What she does: Diagnostic Radiographer, Changi General Hospital
What she studied: Diploma, Diagnostic Radiography, Nanyang Polytechnic
Degree, Diagnostic Radiography, University of Sydney

Have you ever watched medical dramas like ER or Grey’s Anatomy? It’s gripping stuff, full of trials and tribulations as the characters grapple with ethical concerns and moral dilemmas while doing their best to save fragile lives.

In reel-life, the focus tends to be on the surgeons, doctors or even the medical interns. Sure, you have all the other people in the background — the nurses, anesthesiologists, dietitians, radiographers, pharmacists, cardiovascular technologists, paramedics and so on. They’re there to add spice to the chaos and tension unfolding before our eyes. They seem to heighten the confusion, rather than provide any real help.

In real-life, on the other hand, that is very rarely the case. Doctors do, of course, tend to take centrestage. After all, they are the ones who appear to be most directly involved with the healing process. But at large hospitals such as SingHealth’s Changi General Hospital, doctors seldom work alone. In fact, they can’t. Without his colleagues’ support and co-operation, no doctor, however brilliant, would be able to get anything done.

TAKING X-RAYS

Charmaine Chen is one such colleague. She is a diagnostic radiographer at the Changi General Hospital. She performs the essential task of producing x-rays. She is part of the hospital’s Diagnostic Radiology Department, but should the need arise, Charmaine can pitch in at many other departments.

“X-rays” is actually a general term that covers multiple types of diagnostic radiography technology. For example, Charmaine and her fellow radiographers provide services such as Computer Tomography (CT) scans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Ultrasound and Mammography.

Almost every department at the Changi General Hospital would require such services at one point or another. Especially in the operating theatre, where surgeons need x-rays to show them real-time images that enable them to perform highly delicate surgery. Without x-rays, modern surgery would essentially be impossible.

“In radiography, we have different areas where we can branch out into, so it is a very interesting and a very challenging job,” says Charmaine.

Simply put, an x-ray is a picture, and a good picture says a thousand words. It’s another communication tool, and as Charmaine cheerfully explains, her work is all about "communicating care to her patients while providing a vital service.”

It’s hard work though, with challenging working hours. Charmaine needs to work shifts, sometimes in middle of the night. Occasionally, she can also be on call 24 hours a day. But she does not mind the unpredictability. “I enjoy my job very much. I like to care for people, and it gives me a very great sense of satisfaction whenever I see patients going home, feeling happy. I think it’s a joy,” she says with a smile.

She’s certainly a dedicated healthcare professional. Charmaine is, in fact, a SingHealth scholar who had completed a three-year course at Nanyang Polytechnic and a further year at the University of Sydney to convert her diploma into a degree.

Taking the scholarship was a strategic decision for Charmaine. “The scholarship has opened up more opportunities and it has taken me further into my career.” On top of important medical skills, she has also learnt how to make important decisions independently. It was quite simply, “a very good experience.”

BEING A MALE NURSE
And “a very good experience” is what nursing undergraduate Dennis Wong is having right now. Dennis is also a SingHealth scholar like Charmaine. He is a member of the fi rst batch of nursing students currently studying at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Like Charmaine, he chose to take up a healthcare profession because of his passion to provide patient care.

But it hadn’t exactly been an easy decision to make, not least because many Singaporeans still fi nd male nurses to be a strange idea.

“There is still a strong stigma associated with being a male nurse in our culture,” admits Dennis. “The challenge lies in enhancing the profile of male nurses and showing that they contribute equally to patient care.”

Dennis is currently in the second year of his degree programme, but he has already been attached to different SingHealth institutions to gain a greater appreciation of Singapore’s public healthcare system.

During one such attachment, he witnessed a resuscitation that took place in the ward. “I saw nurses working seamlessly with the doctor, supporting each other to bring the patient back from the brink of death. All of them had the same goal even though they were from different specialities and held different roles,” recalls Dennis.

“From this incident, I learnt that nurses do not function alone and that quality patient care requires different healthcare professionals to work together as a team for the patient’s good.”

A NOBLE ASPIRATION
The incident has spurred him to take every opportunity to help people whenever he can. For example, Dennis and his coursemates joined physiotherapy students from Nanyang Polytechnic in a health screening exercise for the elderly at Bukit Purmei’s Resident Council.

It’s a noble aspiration that most healthcare professionals typically share. Dennis and Charmaine may work in different fields, but they share a common goal: to serve their patients and alleviate their suffering.

They aim to work with their colleagues to deliver a higher standard of healthcare to all patients.