"When I was a junior doctor, a consultant told me “you don’t choose a specialty, you choose the person doing the specialty, and if he/she inspires you, you’ll find yourself going into the specialty”. That’s the reason why I chose radiology and cardiac imaging. It comes from watching the toil and triumph, the shared sweat and blood and also from receiving many gifts of kindness, patience and wisdom from my seniors and mentors. It is a spark of hope born in a place of gratitude and I still think it’s the best way to decide what you want to do with your life. 

Radiology is an understanding of a science but the practice of an art which constitutes both Radiology and Medicine. Medicine cannot truly be just a science. It is deeply “human”. To be a doctor is to deal with the essence of being human.  

They say that “it takes a village to raise a doctor”.  After I have passed my Radiology fellowship exam, I sneaked into the department offices overnight and planted gifts and handwritten notes in front of all the consultants’ doors as a way of thanking them for tutoring and mentoring me. "

Dr Charlene Liew Jin Yee
Consultant
Department of Diagnostic Radiology
Changi General Hospital

Tags: Doctor