TAM Kei-tai Timothy || BSc (Hons) Radiography || Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore
During the four-week placement in Singapore, second year Radiography student Tam Kei-tai Timothy went through an engrossing journey encompassing practical clinical training and multinational exposure.
Timothy worked at a private hospital, Gleneagles Hospital, for the first three weeks. He was then attached to the National University Hospital (NUH), National Cancer Centre (NCC) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) for the remaining week. Timothy says his jobs during the internship were diverse and full of challenges.
“On one hand, I needed to comfort the cancer patients and to assure them the radiation therapy treatment would do more good than harm,” he says. “On the other hand, I needed to ensure every procedure, from patient counselling, device moulding, treatment computer planning and simulation of final real treatment operation, was carefully implemented and subtly planned.”
Learn from cultural differences
Apart from the clinical techniques, he learnt to pay attention and take care of the special needs of different ethnic groups. For instance, as Islamist refrains from eating and drinking before sunset every Friday as a way to worship their god, so a special arrangement is provided for Islamic patients. The Islamic patients are allowed to receive their treatment in the early morning so that they can abide by their religious practice. “Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious city. People respect each other and live together in harmony,” he says.
His working environment was also a blend of different races and cultures. “The old Singaporeans speak Putonghua, while staff from Malaysia, Philippines and India can only speak English with very strong accents of their mother tongue. I frequently shifted from one language to another and always failed to differentiate the nationality of the people,” says Timothy and laughs as he recalls this funny experience.
In the country, he experienced cultural shock and felt alienated for the first time in his life. “I lived in the Little India region where the majority of residents were Indian. Upon my arrival at the Little India MRT station, everyone I saw was Indian. For the first time of my life, I felt completely isolated from my Chinese community,” he says.
Timothy thinks the rewarding and enlightening internship showed him a new perspective of life and the world. He was also inspired to work overseas to expand his knowledge of the radiography development in the world. “I should not confine myself to my old comfortable onion shell,” he says.
