24 JULY 10 – 23, 2015

By Epoch Times Sta�

A Ms Tan Wen Qi didn’t take a straight path to becoming a doctor.

She went on to obtain her engineering degree at the National University of Singapore, graduating in 2011. But

biomedical engineering, she realised what she really wanted was to work more closely with people.

“During my third year summer vacation, I worked in the Chronobiology and Sleep Laboratory at Duke-NUS, where we

health in young men. It was a refreshing and eye-opening experience for me, as I was studying the biology of healthy

with test-tubes on a bench. I realised that I wanted to work more closely with people, doctors and patients, and to be able to observe and have a more direct impact on people’s health,” says Dr Tan.

to her dream. Recently, the 27-year-old graduated with a Doctor of Medicine (MD). She was one of 49 students to col-lect their MD degrees at this year’s Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School graduation

batch of eight PhD holders graduate in in-tegrated biology and medicine.

In the interview with Dr Tan, Epoch

well as her insightful training.

medicine is an art, not a science, and that is incredibly true. Medicine is a lifelong

medical school.”

views regarding the illicit organ harvesting trade, particularly in China.

“I have met a few patients over the past few years who have gone to China for kidney transplants—but most people don’t know where China’s large supply of organs comes from,” she discloses.

What opportunities does Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School o�er?

-cine, particularly for those who didn’t have the chance to pursue undergradu-ate medicine. My classmates come from a variety of backgrounds—science, engi-neering, even economics, art history, and

you don’t necessarily need a science back-ground to do extremely well in medical school.

Duke-NUS also has a research year where we are engaged in a research project with a mentor. We can choose to do it in clinical or basic science. I really appreciated the experience and extensive support I received from my mentors, statisticians and others who

instrumental in exposing me to clinical research and the option of becoming a clinician scientist.

Is medicine a rewarding experience? Why?It is a rewarding and extremely humbling experience. We are given the privilege of examining and treating patients, and we deal with something so important to them—their health and their lives. Many patients are truly inspiring with their strength in the face of adversity, es-pecially the paediatric patients. Despite all the hardship they experience in their health and personal lives, they remain real troopers. I have learnt a great deal from them!

What are the moral ethics for doctors?

1. Respect for autonomy: respecting the patients’ right to choose or refuse treatment2. Beneficence: doing what is best for the patient3. Non-maleficence: “do no harm” to the patient4. Justice: fairness and equality in the distribution of health resources

Tell us about your training in local hospitals. Share with us your experi -ences, and some memorable lessons?I had most of my training at Singapore General Hospital, one of Singapore’s busiest tertiary hospitals, and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. I was fortunate to have very good mentors at

patients are also my teachers; without them, I would not have the medical knowledge and experience I know now.

One of my most memorable lessons was following an elderly patient for her follow-up appointment with her cardi-ologist. She patiently and amicably spent three hours in tests and waiting before she could see the doctor. It made me ap-preciate all the waiting that a patient has to go through for a 10-minute consulta-tion. At the same time, I’ve also experi-

are, where doctors are pressured to see so many patients in a limited time. Time-management and tolerance on both sides become very critical things to have!

What do you think is the most pressing issue in healthcare today?With Singaporeans living longer, we are already facing a greying population and an increasing burden from chronic dis-eases like hypertension, diabetes, heart

majority of patients who are admitted to hospitals have at least one of these con-

than not require lifelong management. Our healthcare system is under pressure

One of our professors, A/Prof Lee Kheng Hock, recently wrote a compre-hensive article for Today (“Reinventing Singapore’s GPs”, 12 June 2015) that suc-cinctly highlights the problem and how we can improve our healthcare system to cope with the impending demands. Gen-eral practitioners and especially allied

health workers like nurses, physiothera-pists, occupational therapists, pharma-cists, and medical social workers are vi-tal to caring for our ageing population in the community.

There have been reports of people go-ing overseas for organ transplants, particularly to China. What are your thoughts? It is unsurprising that people are going to

waiting period for a kidney in Singapore is nine years. Conversely, the waiting pe-riod in China for organs is within weeks, and over 10,000 organs are transplanted per year. I have met a few patients over the past few years who have gone to Chi-na for kidney transplants.

But many don’t know where China’s large supply of organs comes from. Un-fortunately, these organs are harvested from prisoners and prisoners of con-science, particularly Falun Gong prac-titioners, Uighur Muslims, Tibetans,

people are detained for years in prisons across China, where they are tested and matched to recipients, and killed to fuel the organ trade.

-tions has been so serious that the United Nations Special Rapporteurs and UN Committee for Torture have repeatedly called attention to the matter, and gov-ernments in Europe, North America, and Asia have passed legislations against China’s organ harvesting practice.

If there is greater awareness of what is happening in China, I believe people will stop going there for organ transplants. It will discourage the organ harvesting trade, and save thousands of innocent lives in China.

For more information on organ harvesting in China, please visit http://stoporganharvesting.org

A Switch to Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

Medicine is a lifelong journey of learning that doesn’t stop after medical school.

Dr Tan Wen Qi, Graduate of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

HomeEPOCH TIMES

Dr Tan Wen Qi (right) with her husband. Dr Tan is among 49 Doctor of Medicine graduates from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School this year.

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