Third Spacing Third Spacing

Dr. Tsoi Wing Foo is a renowned psychiatrist with over 60 years of experience in the field. He dedicated his career to the care of transgender people and is one of the pioneers in transgender psychiatry in Singapore. Dr. Tsoi also authored the book "Cries from Within," which explores the challenges faced by transgender people in Singapore and the available treatment options. In this episode, Dr. Tsoi discusses the challenges faced by transgender individuals, the evolution of treatment approaches, and the resistance from the medical community. Dr. Tsoi emphasizes the importance of providing proper care and support for transgender patients, including hormone therapy and gender change surgery. He also highlights the need for a shift in societal attitudes towards transgender individuals.

00:25 Introduction01:02 Inspiration to dedicate life’s work in transgender care/psychiatry02:02 Definition of gender dysphoria and what it means to have it03:28 Experience of taking care of trans patients back in the 70s/80s, process of how it used to be to diagnose them08:56 Comparison of the medical community’s view of LGBTQ community then and now09:42 Dealing with rejection of medical community’s view of trans care10:22 Views on the terms ‘transsexual’ and ‘transgender’, and shift in view of gender dysphoria from a sexual disorder to a gender identity disorder12:02 Discussion on the shift of view in MTF ppl12:41 Trans people visiting the clinic with a plan in mind13:30 Next focal point for medical industry to focus in trans care14:29 Is it important to being personally involved with transgendered people16:57 Advice for medical students who want to pursue in trans care

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the interview are his own and do not reflect the views of his employer.

Dr Gerald Sng shares his perspective as a researcher of junior doctor burnout. In our first ever video episode, Dr Sng discusses the factors contributing to high rates of burnout among junior doctors, and explores what can be done to address it. He draws insight from his research into residents and medical students in Singapore, informed by his own experiences navigating the healthcare system. Dr Sng also draws a connection between empathy and burnout, and shares how they might be two sides of the same coin.



00:07 Introduction and Guest Introduction 

00:38 Dr. Sng's Journey into Burnout Research

02:15 The Connection Between Burnout and Empathy 

03:33 Trends in Burnout and Its Causes 

04:20 Understanding the Concept of Burnout 

05:11 Pillar 1: Emotional Exhaustion

06:30 Pillar 2: Depersonalisation

07:36 Pillar 3: Personal Achievement 

09:10 Burnout as a Symptom of a Larger Problem 

12:39 Addressing Burnout: Systemic Changes and Individual Strategies 

15:02 Shifting mindsets from individual to institutional responsibility 

16:58 The modern struggles of junior doctors

19:20 What needs to change in our healthcare system?

24:10 Are you optimistic about the future for junior doctors?

27:31 The Future of Burnout Research and Advocacy 

31:18 Conclusion and Farewell

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Jonathan Ng, CEO and founder of Iterative Health, a US-based healthcare startup pioneering the use of AI-based precision medicine for the detection and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. He’s also the chairman of Children of Cambodia, a philanthropic organization he set up at 16 years old that helped establish Cambodia's first neonatal ICU, pediatric burns and pediatric cardiothoracic surgery unit. We discuss the personal values that motivated his philanthropy and eventual pivot to business from medicine. He also shares about his journey of founding Iterative Health and the importance of expanding one’s horizons and breadth of experiences.

In this episode, we shift our conversation with Hazirah Mohamed, a public health PhD student at the University of Toronto, towards health equity at large, where her research focuses on resource allocation in end of life care. She shares her journey to public health, her insights to designing a patient-centred preventive health model, in light of HealthierSG, and how we can make change in the very systems that we work in.
[00:00:42] Hazirah’s public health background
[00:04:31] The problem with opportunistic testing
[00:09:34] The priority on efficiency in our systems and how we can make change from within these systems

In the first of this two-part episode we talk to Hazirah Mohamed (she/her), a public health PhD student at the university of Toronto. She is the author of “Kita dah cukup manis? (We are sweet enough?): Resisting the bitter pill of racialised health framing on the Malay community” in Brown is Redacted, an anthology of essays on race in Singapore. We discuss the uses of race in society and in medicine, and the importance of cultural competence.
[00:00:35] Introduction to Hazirah and Overview of her research on Malay issues
[00:06:13] Thoughts on public health campaigns and how their framing could influence health outcomes
[00:12:08] Why is race being seen in isolation problematic in healthcare?
[00:18:51] How can we be more culturally competent?
[00:28:27] How should healthcare workers and doctors approach the topic of race?
[00:35:41] How should we think about the reasons why people may or may not have health-seeking behaviour
[00:41:03] Final thoughts

In this episode, we interview Prof Roger Foo, a practicing cardiologist who is also the Director of the NUSmed and NUHS Cardiovascular Disease Translation Research programmes, and head of the NUHS Clinician Scientist Academy. We talk about his path to becoming a clinician scientist, how his interest in cardiology developed, exciting insights into cardiovascular research and tips for students to engage in research.