Caring

Newly Promoted Doctors

	Dr Leong Wai May (Consultant, Anaesthesia)

	taying focus is one of Dr Leong Wai May’s fortes. It is also what she likes best about her work at the Department of Anaesthesia in CGH.

“I like the work flow of being able to care for one patient at a time; it allows me to focus my energy,” says Dr Leong who also sub-specialises in Regional Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Management.

Dr Leong, who joined CGH as a registrar in 2002, is recently promoted to Consultant. The locally schooled doctor from Raffles Girls’ School, Raffles Junior College, and the National University of Singapore, has an MBBS and MMed (Anaesthesia).

She went to Sweden for her HMDP training, and spent half a year each at the Halmstad County Hospital, Southern Sweden and Karolinksa University Hospital, Stockholm.

Dr Leong’s everyday work in CGH involves assessing the fitness of patients who will be undergoing surgery and determining the type of anaesthesia – general, regional or both – to be given. She also manages post-operative analgesia and looks after patients in the intensive care unit.

Quite often, her work shoves her straight into situations where quick reflexes and decisions are needed that she finds invigorating. “I find the fast pace of work challenging and I enjoy thinking on my feet during crisis management.”

Currently, she is looking into doing research on how to use regional anaesthesia more efficiently as a sole technique in high-risk patients for major procedures. According to her, regional anaesthesia is desirable and effective in elderly or high-risk patients undergoing various procedures, especially those concerning the upper or lower limb.

“Regional anaesthesia methods like peripheral nerve blocks can be used both as a sole anaesthesia technique and in combination with general anaesthesia for better intra-op and post-op pain management. It reduces the body’s stress responses to surgery, have fewer side effects and improves patient’s satisfaction and experience with surgery,” she says.

I find the fast pace of work challenging and I enjoy thinking on my feet during
crisis management.
- Dr Leong

Dr Vina Doshi
(Consultant, Geriatric Medicine)

or every doctor, the patient’s welfare is the core of medical practice. Dr Vina Doshi is one doctor who not only cares for all her patients but also has a soft spot for the elderly ones.

“Elderly patients cannot be treated in the same manner as other adult patients. If they are, many complications can arise, especially if they already have multiple medical conditions to begin with,” she says. “With elderly patients, there is the challenge of diagnosing and managing medical conditions which very often manifest themselves differently than in younger patients.”

Dr Doshi, who joined CGH in 2001, is recently promoted to Consultant. She has a MB ChB and MRCP (UK), and obtained her specialist qualification in 2004.

By her own admission, she never thought she would choose geriatrics, “but a chance posting to CGH Geriatric Medicine in 2000 opened my eyes,” she says.

She runs the Geriatric Day Hospital (GDH) in CGH and oversees the Geriatric Centre’s overall operation. She is also actively involved in numerous geriatric programmes, one of which is to help elderly patients suffering from falls.

In addition, she is concerned with elderly patients suffering from heart failure, which is another of her varied geriatric interests that she hopes to develop.

No doubt her plate is full with clinical demands and geriatric research work, but Dr Doshi is happy managing them all. “I always feel that we are physicians first, and specialists second, and should always practise in a holistic manner. Geriatric Medicine appeals to me as a speciality where I can do just that,” she says.

Dr Doshi is now focusing on streamlining the work processes in GDH and developing the services provided. As a member of the Patient Safety Commitee, she is also currently involved in improving safety issues for elderly patients in the hospital.

I always feel that we are physicians first, and specialists second, and should always
practise in a holistic manner. Geriatric Medicine appeals to me as a speciality
where I can do just that.
- Dr Doshi

	Dr Sridhar Venkateswaran (Consultant, General Medicine)

	or someone fascinated with the subject on sleep, Dr Sridhar Venkateswaran does not seem to want much shut-eye for himself. The doctor, who is recently promoted to Consultant, is kept busy everyday with his clinical work and multiple research projects that are running concurrently.

Dr Sridhar who joined CGH in August 2003 has an MBBS, FRACP, FAMS and received dual accreditation in Respiratory Medicine and Sleep Medicine. He says he chose to specialise in General Medicine because it is simple and straightforward but still intellectually challenging.

But the discipline that fascinates him the most is Sleep Medicine, his sub-speciality. Here, he looks into sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome and insomnia.

These are on top of respiratory conditions such as asthma, pneumonia and chronic obstructive airways disease that he tackles in his daily work.

“Obstructive sleep apnoea and other sleep related problems are diseases largely under-recognised by the general public. More public awareness and education has to be created for these diseases,” he says.

Dr Sridhar has just completed a project looking at the prevalence of "syndrome Z", which is the interaction of obstructive sleep apnoea with the metabolic syndrome, in CGH.

Without pausing for a rest, he has embarked on a project looking at the link between refractory asthma and obstructive sleep apnoea. Next on his research agenda is a university sanctioned sleep survey on medical students and house-officers.

With so many things going on at work for him, it comes at no surprise that Dr Sridhar does not get to sleep more than a few winks at night. But he plods on by holding steadfast to just one simple wish.

“My biggest reward is to see a patient recovers and gets well, and leaves the hospital in a much better state than when he or she first came to CGH,” he says.

My biggest reward is to see a patient recovers and gets well, and leaves the hospital in a much better state than when he or she first came to CGH.
- Dr Sridhar