Health Science and Nursing Scholarship Award Ceremony

12 Aug 2011

By Dr Amy Khor
Venue: NUSS' Guild House

1.     This is my first experience as Guest of Honour in our Health Science and Nursing Scholarship Award Ceremony and I am indeed happy to be among you today. I am told that we host this award ceremony every year for all Health Science and Nursing scholars and recipients of the Healthcare Graduate Studies Award. I warmly welcome parents of our scholars and am grateful to the principals and teachers who have taken time to support the graduates from their institutions and schools. I congratulate all scholarship recipients.

2.     To re-state, the obvious mission of healthcare is to improve the lives and health of the people. Having accepted the scholarship, you have joined the family of healthcare practitioners, and will carry the important and noble responsibility of safeguarding the health of fellow Singaporeans, friends and family. There are few other professions in which you can touch lives so deeply and with compassion, the way you can in healthcare. It is a high calling that you have responded to, and I hope that sense of purpose will remain with you throughout your career in healthcare.

3.     The Health Science and Nursing Scholarship covers nursing, pharmacy and all disciplines in allied health like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, podiatry, respiratory therapy, medical social work, dietetics, prosthetics and orthotics etc. The Healthcare Graduate Studies Award offers postgraduate training opportunities in more specialized areas, such as clinical psychology, microbiology, epidemiology, and biostatistics. Together, our scholarships offer a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate education options for top students who have a passion for healthcare to help others live life to the fullest. It is important that we attract some of our brightest and best students to take up careers in healthcare because it is a rapidly growing sector that we all have a vested interest in. Singapore’s society is not only becoming very sophisticated with high expectations for their healthcare providers, it is also ageing rapidly. The elderly of the future will include all of us adults here today. The Ministry has been working hard on growing our capabilities to provide a level of healthcare in the future that we can be proud of. Nurses, pharmacists, and the allied health professionals are key players in this future we hope to have.

4.     We are also ramping up the expansion of our healthcare delivery system. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun was opened last year and we are already working actively on building the next new hospital in Jurong, to be opened in a few years’ time. We are not just opening acute hospitals, we are also planning two new community hospitals – one next to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and the other next to the new hospital in Jurong.  We are also expanding healthcare services in the community.

5.     In terms of job creation potential, healthcare is without any doubt a high growth sector generating employment opportunities with the ageing population and advances in healthcare. Let me give you a few specific examples of these jobs. An elderly patient who suffered a stroke would require not only check-ups with his doctor at the hospital, but also rehabilitative care by:

- physiotherapists who help him improve his mobility and alleviate stiffness,
- occupational therapists who implement treatment plans to enable him to engage in activities of self care and daily living,
- speech therapists who help to restore speech and swallowing abilities,
- pharmacists who dispense the right medication and advice on the right use of the drugs,
- nurses who continue to assist the doctors to implement recovery plans for the patient, and
- Medical Social Workers who can connect care in the community for the patient.

6.     With the elderly, mental health is equally important. We will need more skilled clinical psychologists to support them. And many elderly cannot be treated for their medical conditions in isolation. Their health is affected by a mix of many factors, including social, family and home issues. Addressing their healthcare needs holistically requires capable and talented medical social workers. We also recognize the need to train epidemiologists to undertake in-depth studies of factors affecting the health and illness of the population and identifying risk factors for disease, which shape public health policy and the practice of preventive medicine.

THE SHIFT TO TEAM BASED CARE

7.     To our scholars, we are not giving scholarships just because we have more jobs to fill. We are giving scholarships in Health Sciences and Nursing because your professions will be at the forefront of driving major changes in the model of care delivery. In the past, when the world  was less complicated , medicine was mainly about doctors treating patients. Today, across the world over, we are seeing a big shift to team-based care where nurses, pharmacists and a range of allied health professionals work together with the doctors to decide and carry out treatment plans for patients. This has come about because of advances in treatments in hospital and outpatient settings, and the development of highly specialised care requiring Advanced Practice nurses and other highly skilled allied health professionals.

8.     In the face of these changes, to excel in the field, many allied health professionals, pharmacists and nurses in first-world countries must have top quality graduate, post-graduate and advanced specialized training.  Singapore is aiming for such a level, and we have made considerable progress. Today, we have many excellent pharmacists and allied health professionals in whom we have every confidence to be treated by. We have Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) with postgraduate qualifications, who are able to work as independent partners to the doctors in their areas of expertise. They hold consultation clinics in hospitals and polyclinics, helping patients to manage their chronic diseases well, thus avoiding unnecessary and potentially expensive complications.

9.     Beyond growing a group of well-trained nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals who will excel in care delivery for our patients, our health science scholars are very important to growing our pipeline of future leaders across health sciences and nursing in Singapore. I see our scholars playing major roles in designing and guiding the development of the healthcare delivery system. They are leaders within the profession because they know the subject intimately. They have the respect of their colleagues through their abilities and skills. They also need to see above the day-to-day work to review the broader healthcare landscape and think through how to improve the way care is delivered to the patients. Should we grow more day therapy services in the community? Would mobile services work? Can we use technology like telecare to advise patients over the phone or internet? These changes require professionals trained not only to a high level but also equipped with leadership and management skills.

10.     Today, I am happy to announce that we are awarding a bumper crop of 104 Health Science and Nursing scholarships this year. I would like to thank the principals and teachers from the various junior colleges and polytechnics for their assistance in bringing the awareness of healthcare careers to the student population and the offer of our scholarship.

11.     We are also awarding 13 Healthcare Graduate Studies Awards this year. These recipients were selected not only for their academic achievements, but more importantly for their aptitude and commitment to serve in the healthcare industry. We thank the universities for assisting in our publicity efforts – by offering facilities for our talks and career fairs and emailing their undergraduates.

YOUR PERSONAL GROWTH

12.     To the parents here, may I thank you for permitting your sons and daughters to embark on this  healthcare journey. Your understanding and encouragement will make a difference to many lives. To the scholars and award winners, I hope you do well in your studies and may I also encourage you to also spend time doing other things, whether contributing to the university life or doing community work, reading widely and developing broader interests. For those going overseas, I urge you to mix with the students of other nationalities and build up new friendships, find time to travel and broaden your horizons. Such experiences are also important to personal growth, honing your interpersonal skills and building your character, which is important to developing leaders. You will be working with many kinds of people and you will need to understand and build the relationships around you and win respect not just because you are a scholar, but also by your humility, compassion and understanding of human relationships amongst your colleagues, patients and supervisors.

13.     My best wishes to you all. Thank you.