With a career spanning nearly four decades, Associate Professor Lim Soo Teik’s journey is best described as one full of heart, purpose and grit. Having been inducted into Duke-NUS Medical School’s Hall of Master Academic Clinicians (MAC) 2025, Assoc Prof Lim’s enduring dedication to medical care and relentless pursuit of continuous improvements in healthcare technology to benefit patients and colleagues, is nothing short of remarkable.

 “If possible, to cure; at the very least, to comfort and to relieve the suffering.” – this simple yet noble ideal drove Assoc Prof Lim to pursue medicine. While he initially wanted to become a surgeon, Assoc Prof Lim soon recognised that his temperament was better suited to internal medicine, and interventional cardiology offered the perfect blend of both.

“To re-open a blocked artery in a patient having heart attack – that immediate impact, saving heart muscle and perhaps a life – it’s incredibly meaningful,” he reflects, adding that advances in this field have kept the experience stimulating and rewarding for both new and experienced interventionists.

Though a clinician by profession, Assoc Prof Lim’s vision extends far beyond the cardiac catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) where he spends most of his days. With a keen passion in healthcare technology, Assoc Prof Lim has been the driving force behind NHCS’s digital healthcare transformation journey. 

What began as a desire to improve cardiac images and report storage and access, blossomed into the Cardiology Image and Information Management System (CIIMS) — one of NHCS’s earliest forays towards a digitally integrated future. Since then, Assoc Prof Lim has spearheaded several notable projects, including the Cardiovascular Information System (CVIS) and the Cardiovascular Computerised Provider Order Entry (CPOE), which enabled streamlined electronic ordering of cardiac investigations. 

Implemented during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest version of cluster ECG Management System (iECG) was perhaps his most challenging endeavour. The cluster initiative, which integrates and improves access to patients’ ECG across its network of institutions, was a complex project spanning nearly two decades and multiple generations of systems. The iECG not only overcame technological fragmentation across institutions, but also allows clinicians across SingHealth and beyond to securely access, review, and compare ECGs across time and locations. Assoc Prof Lim beamed, “It was a significant stride towards SingHealth’s paper-lite ecosystem, marking a major impact on patient care. This huge undertaking was truly a success made possible by many unsung heroes.”

Despite his zeal for healthcare IT, Assoc Prof Lim emphasises that technology may enhance diagnosis and treatment but will never replace good history taking, physical examination, communication and human touch. He recognises that some clinicians may find electronic documentation daunting and suggests adoption of practical aids like voice recognition and intuitive EMR (electronic medical record) templates. “The design must be user-friendly — and we must never forget that the goal of technology is to make healthcare better for both patients and providers.”

The enthusiasm and passion for his job was evident, “The advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic tools, as well as the overall improvement in the healthcare system, are what really excite me most about Singapore medicine,” Assoc Prof Lim said. As technology and clinical practices continue to evolve rapidly, he believes that continuous learning is key. From conferences to journals, online portals, and even professional forums on social media, his approach to training and education moves with the times. 

Having skilfully handled catheters and stents on one hand, and computer systems on the other, Assoc Prof Lim responds thoughtfully when asked what he would be doing if he were not a cardiologist. “Either a surgeon or a haematologist. If not a doctor, I’d be a physicist.” With his analytical mind, it is not hard imagining him in any of these roles, though we much prefer watching him in action in the cath lab, saving lives.

Assoc Prof Lim’s achievements remind us that healthcare is not just about treating disease but transforming systems, relationships, and lives. Whether it is pioneering a digital solution that revolutionises workflows or mentoring the next generation of healthcare professions, his humility and heart shines through.