I love baking! My favourite thing to bake are tarts. I picked up baking because first of all, I love food and second, I am interested in not only the end product but also the process.  picked up baking as my mother and older sister are avid bakers. I started learning how to bake by helping out my mother and older sister (they are such professional and talented bakers!) in the kitchen. I did things like with measuring certain ingredients and mixing them together. Slowly, I got more confident with the different ingredients and baking methods and started experimenting on my own.

The work of an OT can be quite challenging, and it is easy to give up if you do not have the right motivations. Some of the skills essential to Occupational Therapists are empathy, creativity, being organized and having good listening skills. I feel that the most essential one is to have genuine love and care for our patients This helps to spur us to continually better ourselves in order to provide the best care possible. This might involve constant brainstorming for better ideas, taking up more courses, constantly asking and involving the patient in their care. 

Every patient’s needs differ. Therefore, OTs need to be creative and come up with treatment plans specific to the patient. In the community care setting, OTs journey with their patients through their entire recovery process. This can be quite a long period of time and it is important to constantly refresh activities in order to keep it engaging. 

To me, community care is about being able to care for clients in the comfort of their own homes and surroundings. By empowering them to be independent, we help them achieve satisfaction as they can lead a fulfilling life. Community care is also not just about your assigned job scope. It is about showing genuine interest in the clients, striving to understand their stories, forming personal relationships with them and accompanying them through their journeys. This makes it worthwhile for me.

The entire scholarships experience has been great so far! I was privileged to be able to spend 9 weeks at the AWWA Dementia Day Care Centre which allowed me to form relationships with the clients and observe the setting for a long period of time. I was also able to practise conducting assessments with the OTs onsite as well as planning activities for the clients. 

Attending the healthcare scholarship award ceremony virtually was also one to remember. Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, we were able to attend a virtual ceremony online. I was also fortunate to be able to meet up with my allocated organisation and staff from the Agency for Integrated Care over the internet to learn more about them.

After graduation, I will be working at AWWA. I hope to be able to use skills learnt in my degree to serve the Singapore population well and to continue developing my skills and hone them even further. I also would definitely want to understand more about Singapore’s healthcare system and contribute ideas to further improve it.

Take every opportunity you can to be exposed to the different areas of healthcare and the different healthcare professions. This will help you make the right decision in which scholarship to apply for. Try to talk to others in the field to better understand if it is what you are interested in.

Story adapted from Facebook.