Marc Wong is a first year medical student at Duke-NUS who suffers from thalassaemia major. As a medical student, Marc is now on the road to paying it forward – where doctors once took care of him, he will soon be able to play an active role in improving Medicine and patient care.
Growing up, I kept my condition to myself. I grappled with accepting my condition and hesitated to tell my friends about it. Suffering from thalassaemia major means I need lifelong care and blood transfusions once every three weeks. PE lessons were especially challenging as I wanted to appear as fit and normal as my classmates. Over time, I learned how to manage my condition and even toggled with transfusion dates prior to marathon runs. After graduating from NTU in Biological Sciences, I joined A*Star’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, studying immune signaling pathways and there, I discovered my growing interest in genetic disorders. The teachings from my Church, the encouragement from friends and the assurance of God’s goodness helped me to view life positively. I heard the calling to be a doctor and decided to pursue what I deeply desired – to be able to serve, touch and impact the lives of patients. So I applied to Duke-NUS.
My childhood doctors inspired me greatly, caring for me not just physically but also personally and emotionally. In KKH, I was first under the care of Prof Phua Kong Boo as a child, and then as I grew older, I received care under the wings of Assoc Prof Tan Ah Moy. She frequently comes by when I am having my transfusions. Sometimes, I almost feel that she cares for me like my own mother! Great doctors like her have inspired me to follow in their footsteps.
Baptism by Fire at Duke-NUS
I am now a first year student at Duke-NUS. Life at Duke-NUS has not been easy! The amount of new information we need to learn is massive and hard to master within a short time. Thankfully, the very interactive teaching methods here enables us to internalise and trigger deep learning. It has been stressful, but like a good workout, going through the rigour gives you a positive feeling.
Recently, in preparation for our practical clinical skills exams, my classmates and I determined that I had carotid bruit (a noise caused by turbulent blood flow in the carotid) and I panicked! It was a classic medical student syndrome. Worried, I sent a text message to Assoc Prof Tan Ru San from NHCS, who set aside time the very next day to see me and personally examined me without any scheduled appointment. After auscultation and an echocardiography he simply said, “There is nothing wrong. Your hearing must be better than mine. No bruit, no bruit!” That cracked me up, eased my anxiety and allayed my fears. I feel privileged to have senior doctors from SGH and other institutions in SingHealth teaching us. They distill their years of experience and give us the essence of what is important to know so that we will be ready and equipped with the skills and knowledge to go into the wards.
Marc Wong is a first year medical student at Duke-NUSAs I study Medicine and discover more about the inner workings of the human body, I try and apply what I have learnt from my experience in research, which is to find a good question to ask. I realise that the more we discover about the human body, the more we find out about our own body. My background in research helps me to identify what I don’t know and think of possible ways to fill in those gaps.
It teaches me how to approach problems systematically. These would include ways to generate a hypothesis, to define a research question and to systematically tease apart similar facts so as to answer the question.
Hope for the Future
I am excited to be one small step closer to fulfilling my dream of being able to treat genetic diseases like mine. I am currently looking for a lab to work in and hopefully, be able to make a contribution in the field of gene and cell therapy. I would love to be part of the process that translates clinical and medical discoveries directly into where it truly matters - the lives of patients.
Being a patient myself has helped me experience the uncertainty and emotions associated with having underlying medical conditions. This allows me to relate to patients and motivates me to work harder to better care for future patients. I hope to emulate the doctors who have treated me, and to be as relatable and sincere as they have been to me.
Extracted from Tomorrow's Medicine (Issue 02-2012), a SingHealth Publication