Public Health Service 2022 Returns - NUS Medicine

Issue 44
Nov 2022

DOSSIER

BY Brian Yeo, Year 3 Medicine student and Co-Director, Executive Committee, Public Health Service, NUS Medicine

The Public Health Service (PHS) was initiated in 2004 by a small but passionate group of medical students. Over the years, with the hard work and dedication of many PHS students, the project has grown from a simple screening event with only four modalities, to one of the largest and most comprehensive student-led health screening initiatives in Singapore.

The phrase “Promoting Health, Spreading Awareness”, effectively encapsulates our aims as a health service. First, we strive to promote the health of our community through a population-based approach, by employing both primary and secondary prevention strategies. This is reinforced by advocating the importance of taking charge of one’s health, through health education initiatives. PHS has always remained cognisant of the importance of adopting strategies which align with evolving national healthcare policies, to better serve our community.

Our free health screening was held on 20 and 21 August 2022, at the Canopy @ J Link in Jurong East. Graced by Guest-of-Honour Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Member of Parliament for Yuhua, the event catered to all Singaporeans and Permanent Residents aged 40 and above.

This year, our health screening covered a myriad of modalities, which included risk assessment and screening for various chronic conditions and cancers, such as metabolic syndrome, and common geriatrics conditions. PHS 2022 screened 1,025 participants, a new high for a screening held in Jurong East.

Residents learning more about gastric cancer at the booth of one of PHS’s partner organisations.

Planning for this year’s health screening event was a tedious, but rewarding experience. The COVID-19 pandemic had brought an abrupt halt to our work. When Co-Director Surabhi Riya Vig and I received confirmation to plan for our screening earlier this year, we picked up from where things left three years ago, before COVID-19 struck. The planning process was a team effort. While each subcommittee took charge of individual aspects of the screening, it was the collective effort from everyone that enabled a smooth screening.

Leading up to the health screening event, PHS organised various key pre-screening stints. Our pre-screening publicity activities were perhaps one of the most memorable. Over a few days in July and August, the PHS committee members travelled down to Jurong East to encourage residents to get screened. Besides promoting our screening in Jurong East Central, committee members also went door-to-door to talk to residents. It was invigorating to learn that many of the residents whom our seniors had served in 2019 remember us, and had been looking forward to our next event.

Moreover, it was especially humbling to get to know the residents we serve. Through interacting with residents, we learnt about some of the daily struggles they face and the concerns they had about their health. We also took the opportunity to distribute our newly designed Public Health Catalogues, which contain key preventive health information, aimed at improving the health literacy of our population.

Student volunteers helping residents with the registration process.

Another key aspect of the planning process was liaising with various screening and exhibition partners and sponsors. Our partners and sponsors play a paramount role in ensuring the success of our screening plans. The majority of our modalities are run by external organisations, with their resources, knowledge and manpower to ensure continuity of care for our participants. PHS is grateful for the opportunity to rekindle our long-standing partnerships with our partners and sponsors, after a COVID-enforced hiatus.

We are grateful for the opportunity to work together with our volunteers, partners and sponsors. We are also thankful for, the mentorship of our Project Advisor, Associate Professor Lim Fong Seng, as well as the guidance from Dean’s Office staff and core faculty from the Office of Students (OfS).”

Additionally, our seniors played an indispensable role in guiding us throughout our planning process. Sir Isaac Newton once said, “If I had seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. PHS is grateful to have an established family of dedicated alumni and mentors, who played a key part in crystallising our plans. Personally, it is heartening to know that our annual screening initiatives continue to be an avenue that brings our alumni together to serve our community.

We were exhilarated to see our planning efforts come to fruition; witnessing volunteers from various healthcare faculties, medical professions and organisations come together under one roof to serve our community. As with any event, spontaneous changes are to be expected. For instance, our committee made on-site changes to the floorplan in between screening days, after evaluating for the need of a better screening flow. I am heartened that our committee remained adaptable and empathetic throughout.

PHS Alumni at their NUHS Community Health Post booth.

PHS aims to raise public health awareness and inculcate a sense of personal responsibility for one’s own health. It was humbling to witness the turnout at the event and learn that screening participants were motivated and committed to keeping their health in check.

We appreciate the lessons learnt and experiences gained from organising the 2022 edition of PHS. Fundamentally, this empowered us to give back to the community. A good clinician must be able to empathise with and understand the patient, as well as their social circumstances.

While screening for diseases is important, it is crucial that any abnormality detected is followed-up on. In the coming months, PHS will initiate a three-pronged follow-up initiative, to ensure that participants receive the medical attention they need.

Ultimately, PHS 2022 would not have been a success without the effort of everyone involved. We are grateful for the opportunity to work together with our volunteers, partners and sponsors. We are also thankful for the mentorship of our Project Advisor, Associate Professor Lim Fong Seng, as well as the guidance from Dean’s Office staff and core faculty from the Office of Students.