The neuro-ICU was a frigid, stark place. The silence was punctuated by the relentless beeping of machines. The antiseptic scent was a constant reminder of the fortress-like walls that encased the patient’s stillness. Beep. Beep. Beep. As I entered I felt like an intruder stepping into a

Jane Tan wears many hats — SingHealth staff, devoted mother, cancer warrior, and now a volunteer who gives back with her hands and heart. After her own cancer journey, Jane found healing not just in treatment, but in connection. Using simple crafts as a bridge, she reaches out to patients undergoing

This song has been seven years in the making. Back in 2018, I wrote a poem for aspiring medical students about what it truly means to be a doctor. No holds barred. No sugar coating. But also an explanation of why, despite everything, I remained one. I titled it “Don’

What happens when we start to question the stories we carry about our worth

Film review

Reconsidering Patient Centred Care: Between Autonomy and Abandonment By Alison Pilnick Emerald Publishing, 2022 I almost didn't pick up this book. The title felt like academic jargon, and honestly, I was expecting another dry critique of healthcare that would leave me feeling guilty about not being "patient-

Teacher or villain-elle? Here comes another eager-eyed learner, She stutters as her glasses begin to mist, Wisdom or trauma: which will it be, Teacher? Now with beaded sweat and shy demeanour, She asks to examine the pulse at the wrist, Here comes another eager-eyed learner. With eyes

A heartfelt confession and sharing about finding connection, meaning and purpose in the ED

There's a story we're used to hearing about aging. A slow, inevitable decline. A journey of loss — of health, independence, identity. This story plays out in quiet corners of hospitals and in loud headlines celebrating the "oldest person to survive" some illness. In clinics,

There's a particular kind of silence that falls in a consultation room just before a difficult conversation begins. It's the silence that comes when the scan results are not what we hoped. Or when a patient says, "Just tell me what the scan shows,"