Life as a Doctor in Singapore

Here’s the ultimate index of all the posts I’ve written about my life as a doctor in Singapore. Whether you’re a prospective applicant, medical student, doctor slaving away in the local system, or just a random stranger on the Internet, I hope you’ll find my writings in equal parts amusing, brutally honest, and relatable!

Chronicles of a House Elf (Apr 2021-Jun 2022)

The Chronicles of a House Elf is a monthly series I created to motivate myself to continue blogging despite the demands and intensity of my Housemanship/intern year.

I titled it as such because I was a huge fan of Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia growing up, plus I resonate greatly with the house elves in Harry Potter. Y’know, those enslaved creatures wearing potato sacks and working endlessly for minimum wage under exploitative employers.

*two junior doctors surrounded by their bosses, colourised (2021)*

Each monthly post was a recap of both the happier bits and uglier sides of life as a junior doctor in Singapore, because I refuse to sugarcoat the truth or hide the harsh reality of this job/lifestyle (especially for prospective medical students/their parents).

Month #1: the harsh realities of being a junior doctor
Month #2: baby steps in mental resilience
Month #3: counting small blessings
Month #4: mental health among junior doctors
Month #5: recovering from burnout + a welcome change in environment
bonus op-ed: the perfect storm for burnout in junior doctors in Singapore + pandemic fatigue + we don’t need #STcovidheroes we just need a break
Month #6: halfway there + I’m getting used to 30-hour work days & 70-hour work weeks but I probably shouldn’t
Month #7: why I’m not doing a residency + the virtues of ‘lying flat’
Month #8: the bad thing about comfort zones
Month #9: will the pre-call blues ever go away?
Month #10: the eternal fight for work-life balance
Month #11: the effect of bosses on workplace morale
Month #12: becoming a Medical Officer + highlight reel of a chill HO year + what’s next?
Month #13: my first chill month as a Medical Officer + about the MOPEX system/how to pick good MO postings
Month #14: the fear of stagnation + career progression for doctors in Singapore

The Great Resignation (Jul 2022 – Oct 2022)

And then I decided to leave the public healthcare sector and *gasp* break my bond, the ultimate taboo. I wrote this series to elucidate my reasons and thoughts behind my life-altering decision:

Locum Lokun Life (Nov 2022 – forever?)

Although I’m no longer bound by the ticking months of Master M’s bond, I’m still going to publish a post for my new Locum Lokun Life* series on the 25/26th of every month – the date my batch started Housemanhip – because that was the milestone I counted down to month after month, checking off yet another month of ~~slavery~~ indentured servitude.

*locums are freelance doctors + lokun is a local slang for doctor

This is for y’all, my dear med friends (and please break free whenever possible/join me on the happier side of doctoring).

All the posts (so far):

#1: new beginnings + being a locum vs full-time GP
#2: serendipity + manpower woes + no, you can’t have antibiotics
#3: goodbye cognitive overload + freelancing with an anti-hustle mindset
#4: the trade-off between money & lifestyle + slow productivity
#5: coming in Apr (will be travelling to the UK in March!)

I’ll continue sharing my journey as a doctor or wherever life takes me, so be sure to follow my Insta or Facebook page to stay up to date with my latest posts and life updates!

Here’s the ultimate Spotify playlist containing all my monthly song recs from all the blogposts above, enjoy!

xoxo,
Faith

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P.S. I don’t make any money from running this blog, so if you’d like to support my writing and help me bring even better content to you, you can buy me a coffee/donate on Ko-fi!

If you’re interested in exploring my blog, click here for an index of all the posts I’ve ever written (travel, musings, doctoring), or check out my most read series below:

the Chasing Dreams series: a multi-part series chronicling my thoughts, dreams & changing ideals over the years (since 2018), including burnout, quitting the rat race, migration and trying to find my path in life
the (not-so-definitive) guide to doctoring: Getting into Med School & FAQs | Surviving your Clinical Years | MBBS Tips | Life as a M1 // M2 // M3 // M4 // M5 during COVID // Life as a Doctor (monthly series) | Chasing Careers series

Chasing Faith and Love