Over 120 newly-minted residents, programme directors, and administrative staff from National Healthcare Group (NHG) Residency engaged with some 100 senior citizens in conversation, fun and games at ACE the Place Community Centre in Admiralty, as part of NHG Residency's annual community engagement day (CED), on Saturday, 15 July 2023.
Grouped with the seniors, the residents spent the morning getting to know the seniors better by participating in a slew of fun-filled activities such as painting bear keychains, playing carnival games, and singing along to live performances of nostalgic songs like月亮代表我的心 and Dayung Sampan.
Co-organised by NHG Residency, North West Community Development Council, New Life Community Services, and Woodlands Health, the annual event aims to provide entrant residents (junior doctors) who are commencing their specialist training in NHG with the opportunity to engage and better understand the community that they are serving outside of clinical settings.
“I'm very happy for this collaboration, as most of you would be aware that we launched the Healthier SG initiative, (and) this is an initiative for us to relook at how we do health(care) in Singapore," said North West District Mayor, Mr Alex Yam, who was one of the guests of honour.
“And events such as this, give us an opportunity to better understand the needs of our community, especially our elders."
Member of Parliament, Mr Vikram Nair, who also graced the event thanked the NHG residents for taking time to spend their day with the seniors, and for organising the event.
“I think our seniors really appreciate that, as this is not an easy thing to put together," he said.
In her address, Associate Professor Faith Chia, Designated Institutional Official, NHG Residency expressed her hopes for the residents to become well-rounded doctors, who are not only competent in their core specialties, but also future-oriented leaders, guided by values, ethics and ethos.
“So why community engagement?" she said.
“Giving back to the community is something that is important to us at NHG Residency.
“We want to see our patients where we are… (but) most importantly, we want to see our patients as people, they are not just medical conditions (to be treated). They have stories, hopes, obstacles behind them... and it would be really good to have this sort of relationship with our patients. And this (CED) is an opportunity for us to do that."
“I feel that sometimes we (doctors), in our busy work (and) the clinical demands, we forget that the person we are caring for is actually somebody with a story, a family, their own anxieties," echoed Senior Resident (NHG Geriatric Residency Programme), Dr Muhammad Faisal Bin Johandi, who initiated this year's CED.
He shared that the CED was a deliberate attempt to being CED back to the community.
“I wanted to bring this reality to you, especially at the start of your training, and hope that it is not something that we ponder on later on, but something that we realise and remember as we embark on our journey towards being specialists and medical professionals," said Dr Faisal to the residents.
“And I hope that you will also learn something about yourself – that you can be a better person, better clinician, and a better member of society."
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