The 2016 edition of the Singapore Medical Council Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines (2016 ECEG) came into effect on 1 January 2017, after many years of work and several rounds of consultations with the medical fraternity.
I am honoured to share with you a thoughtful piece by Dr Tan Chi Chiu, as our Feature article. He submitted this article some time ago to discuss the need for an updated guide, as well as the challenges he faced in the process of updating the 2016 ECEG. I hope that his article will give readers a better overview of the background, guiding principles and aims of the 2016 ECEG. SMA News will continue to publish other discussion pieces on the 2016 ECEG and we welcome your submissions.
We have also pieced together several articles dealing with various aspects of professionalism. In terms of collegiality and looking out for each other, while ensuring the safety of patients, Prof Kua Ee Heok lists excellent tips and advice on how to recognise dementia in a colleague and what we can do to help.
On the utilisation of technology in medicine, the National Healthcare Group Polyclinics and the National Skin Centre have collaborated on Singapore's first teledermatology service, which was implemented in 2015. Dr Kong Jing Wen shares with us the origin, development and history of teledermatology, summarising the evidence of safety in practice and the challenges that have to be overcome during actual implementation. This is a successful use of technology that benefits patients, primary care doctors and specialists, and I hope that more of such collaborations can happen in the future.
Ophthalmologist Dr Dinesh Visva Gunasekeran and a team of friends from National University of Singapore have come together to provide a software, DoctorBell, that aims to help improve patients' access to doctors.
Dr Wong Sin Hee gives an honest, sharp (and sometimes humorous) dissection on continuing medical education (CME) – he writes about what makes a good CME event, based on all the CME sessions he has attended over the decades as a GP. This is compulsory reading for young specialists giving a session for the first time!
We are also very pleased to carry an interview with Prof Chew Chin Hin, under our ongoing series on pioneer doctors. As a past Master of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, he tells us the beginnings of specialty training in Singapore and the first local Master of Medicine qualifications. He also shares first-hand accounts of other significant developments in the treatment of tuberculosis: setting up of the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association and the use of a drug we take for granted now — penicillin. Another poignant recollection is of the limited medical practice and many struggles faced during the Japanese Occupation. Do read the full transcript at https://goo.gl/JONRq5 for the wealth of knowledge Prof Chew shared.
A friend and colleague, Dr Veronica Alcantara from the Philippines, has been working in Singapore for several years. She writes about the career path that brought her here and shares her experience of the relatively ideal medical system in Singapore. It is refreshing to see our healthcare system through new eyes.
Dr Terence Tan interviews Ann Marie Chua of The Barkery, a pet food retailer which specialises in natural fresh food for our canine friends. This should be of interest to our readers with doggy "furkids"! For those who own cats and other pets, let me look around for writers — or do feel free to send in something!