A Surgeon’s Heart, An Engineer’s Mind

In our series of Duke-NUS Medical School’s alumni features in the news, Dr Darius Aw shares on realising his dream of a career in medicine after his engineering degree. He tells us on what keeps him motivated in the surgical wards and beyond in his life as a clinician.

What made Duke-NUS Medical School stand out from other prospective schools?

“Duke-NUS was my first choice and one of the best choices I have made. As it was accepting post graduate medical studies applications and, given my biomedical background, I was still enthusiastic with medical related matters. The school therefore presented itself as an opportunity for me to try and achieve what I could not achieve when I was younger. It positioned itself as a medical institution strongly focused on research and the fact that it was keen to accept applications from a diverse background was attractive to me.

What was studying medicine at Duke-NUS like?

“The faculty and the administrators were very supportive in every step of our medical journey. It wasn’t easy to pursue medical training for many of us. Many of us had a young family with children and were starting medical school at an older age. The diversity in our classrooms also allows one to interact with people from all different backgrounds and you learn intensively from one another, promoting innovation, creativity.

What are some of the best things about being a Duke-NUS student?

“I feel that being a post graduate medical graduate has the advantage of knowing what we really want in our careers, staying focused on the path we have taken, and at the same time, the maturity to sustain this passion. The fact we have more varied first degrees and for some us, through experiences, allows us to see things in a different way and approach issues in a creative manner. In my view, this is the strongest trait that a Duke-NUS student can bring forth to the medical world.

Why did you decide to switch from engineering to medicine, and why did you choose your current specialty?

“Bioengineering, which I was pursuing when I was younger was closely related to medicine. I didn’t feel that it was vastly different. The difficulty during the transition was probably the fact that I was away from the academics for some time, and medicine was foreign language. However, with the support of faculty and my peers, these challenges were eased. I chose surgery as it is an amazing field of medicine. It is fast paced, full of action and therapeutic. In fact, it also enables me to tap on my engineering skills as we work with surgical devices and evolving technology constantly. You are constantly problem solving, working with your hands and making decisions in a dynamic environment.

What are some of the best things about your job?

“Some of the most satisfying part of my job is attained when I walk out of the operating room knowing that I have done good for the patient and that patient has benefited from my intervention, surviving the surgery and is on, his or her way to recovery.

As surgery is a very busy field of medicine, I am constantly on the move. There are unforeseen circumstances and emergencies. Surgeons spend a lot of time training and in the hospital. This was one of the challenges we face during surgical training. It takes us away from family and social time; yet eventually we all find a balance.

What is one most memorable experiences you had on the job?

One of my most memorable moment was during the delivery of a newborn when I was a house officer. I was tasked to assist in the delivery suite. The delivery of the child and how thankful the parents were after the delivery and seeing the child born in the world is something no words can describe.