I joined NHCS as a fresh graduate in May 2022. As a junior sonographer who knew next to nothing on interacting with patients, I gained a precious lesson from an encounter with a kind patient. 

The patient was 80 years old and had come in for an ultrasound scan to rule out deep vein thrombosis. To perform the procedure, I had to compress the veins in her lower limbs for a moderate duration. Being new, I was still learning the art of vein compression at an accurate angle and hence, exerted too much pressure on her thigh area which is usually more sensitive to pain. However, she kept extremely quiet throughout the scan. When I asked her to let me know if she felt any pain, she replied, "Don't worry about it at all, your job in learning and scanning cannot be compared to me just lying here for an hour!". She smiled to reassure me that she was doing fine.

The incident made me realise the impact a sonographer like me or any other healthcare professional has on each patient. Even though we attend to countless patients every day, each patient comes to us with trust – be it in the information we relay to them or our professional judgement. It dawned on me that our patients hold gratitude towards the healthcare professionals who took care of them, whether it is for a simple scan or a complex procedure. My encounter with the kind patient has inspired me to do better for them!