Dr Singh is a clinical assistant professor at HKU. As a clinician-scientist, he works on ‘translational research’, translating lab findings into bedside applications while seeing patients in Queen Mary Hospital; as an educator, he holds lectures and does bedside teaching to facilitate knowledge exchange.
Dr Singh chose the specialty of haematological oncology because it relies heavily on science and pathology and is the only field in which lab results are directly translated into patient management. While cardiothoracic surgery has heart surgeries and gastroenterology has colonoscopies, haematological oncology goes more along the lines of biopsies, bone marrow exams, and lab tests. In fact, Dr Singh was trained in pathology before he decided on medicine and haematological oncology. His pathology training helps him understand the underlying mechanisms of the blood diseases he treats and allows him to translate the lab test results he receives into diagnoses and treatment plans. As cancer patients are often also immunocompromised (contracting uncommon infections), his training in immunology and infectious diseases allows him to understand the conditions in depth and improve his clinical practice.
As a clinician-scientist, Dr Singh regularly works in multiple different settings. In a typical day at work at the hospital, Dr Singh starts off the day right with a round of refreshing coffee before going on ward rounds and clinical rotations. In the ward, a round is first done by junior doctors or doctors-in-training, then a supervisory round is done by the more senior doctors to review the patients’ progress, diagnoses, and management plans. Sometimes, Dr Singh does outpatient follow-ups up till, or even until after, lunch. After lunch, Dr Singh often attends meetings with the hospital team to draw out patient management plans and reflect on what is done well and what can be improved. There’s even journal clubs sometimes, where clinicians update themselves on the latest developments of their fields.
Although Dr Singh’s time is split between his patients and his research, his patients always come first. Therefore, to complete his research projects and teaching commitments, time management is especially important. For Dr Singh, he establishes balance through careful planning and scheduling. On the days he works in his own lab instead of the hospital, he prefers dividing the workload over many days rather than completing everything in one day. By doing this, he remembers the information better and is able to perform better. Dr Singh warns against working excessively and burning out too soon: being a clinician-scientist is a lifelong job, so there’s no need to burn out in the first few years.
When asked about his work style, Dr Singh answers that he believes collaboration in research leads to the best output, as “every one of us is just part of a big team, and every one has their own expertise”. He enjoys approaching topics from multiple angles and often collaborates with experts in different fields for his research. He believes that in collaborating, he can identify his own weaknesses and improve himself, as well as absorb expertise from experts in other fields and improve his information in that area.
Dr Singh believes that a medical student should have three core attributes:
1. Commitment: Medicine is a lifelong career, and without commitment, not only will they not be able to succeed, they will also negatively impact the overall healthcare system.
2. An interest in science and medicine, not just the job security: We should think at a higher level, and go for our interests and aspirations first. If we pursue our interests and achieve success in that area, other things will naturally fall in place. Medicine offers job security, but it’s not worth the day-in day-out stress if you’re not interested.
3. Stamina and the ability to withstand stress and focus for a long period of time.
Dr Singh believes that these three are the most important because they must be developed naturally, while other skills and attributes can be trained. When choosing university subjects, Dr Singh advises us not to choose based on what we think we must do, but to choose based on what we want to do.
For advice to aspiring medical students, Dr Singh encourages students to stay updated. He realises that a lot of the knowledge, once made into guidelines or textbooks, are already sadly outdated. He encourages students to not be bound by textbooks or lectures, and to always ratify your knowledge by doing self-research and staying updated with new scientific and medical discoveries. “There is an explanation for everything, and the only thing standing between us and it is some time and research,” he says.
As for advice on improving our research and communication skills, Dr Singh still believes that working in groups is the best way to improve quickly, as teamwork leads to intellectual stimulation, self-awareness, and an opportunity for mutual learning. The teacher is there to guide us, not to force us to learn in their way. We should also observe, as that way we can find questions to ask and answers to them, and if there are no answers, we should devise research to fill in the gaps. There are not always positive answers, and we should not believe there are lest we fall prey to research bias, but even if there is a negative outcome, we should not be discouraged as we have still learnt something. Lastly, in group learning, we should not be afraid to express ourselves and we definitely should not be afraid of being wrong.
To aspiring medical students, Dr Singh has one last reminder: Stay focused, find your interests, and don't be afraid of being wrong. Work hard!
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