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,"

Lessons from the "Hospital Playlist" Drama

Working in the intensive care unit is very much a team-based approach, and for those familiar with it, a fairly noisy one at that. On any given day, there’s a gamut of activity (and emotions) which the team must take in their stride… Movement 1: The morning adagio starts

The quiet weight of meaning in Medicine

As doctors, we are trained to preserve life, to relieve suffering, to advocate for the vulnerable. To be the voice for the voiceless and marginalised. But as we scroll through and view the livestreams, images and headlines from Gaza on our mobile phones daily, we cannot help but feel an

Beyond the Clinical Chaos Emergency medicine is defined by urgency—rapid decisions, life-saving interventions, and intense human encounters. But beneath this clinical intensity lies a quieter reality: how those on the frontlines process what they witness and find meaning in their work. For four clinicians at Changi General Hospital'

Scanning the notes on the Monday morning before ward rounds, I had a foreshadowing that this particular family was going to be challenging to speak to- multiple family communication notes over the weekend, documenting the medical team’s repeated attempts to explain to the family what was happening to their

I first met Associate Professor Cheong Pak Yean when I was a medical student, assigned to shadow a GP for my clinical attachment. I was fortunate beyond measure that it was him – the same family doctor my parents had taken me to when I was sick as a teenager. Little

“Listening is talking for him; there’s an eloquence to this kind of attentiveness; it’s rare.” ― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water All clinicians experience from time to time what we call the “difficult patient.” For just a moment, as you read those words, reflect on what arises within

I looked at my patient’s wife this morning, crying, and felt I was witnessing a beautiful sadness. When the husband first came in with a stroke six weeks ago, I remembered the wife crying helplessly. Both of them, in their 80s, were very loving, and were termed “Romeo and