2021
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Why did you choose to do a PhD?
As a clinician (midwife and a nurse) I saw the unmet needs of new mothers due to early hospital discharge post childbirth. I felt the need of continuity of care for the new mothers in the community settings. I recently had a success with the evidence based project where i published a systematic review on stopping the routine naso-pharyngeal suctioning of newborns after childbirth. Based on the findings the routine suctioning of newborns was stopped at the delivery suite. Seeing how research can inform clinical care, and a nudge from my clinical mentor (Prof Chong Yap Seng), i decided to pursue PhD.
Why did you choose to do graduate education at NUS? If you received offers from other universities, why did you pick NUS?
Well, why not NUS? 🙂 This is the world class University and i always had a dream of studying at NUS. There were no degree in nursing in the past otherwise NUS would have been my choice for the underground degree course too. Learning from the best professors, in the state of the art leaning environment, NUS was the only choice. In fact i was told to choose the easier option (overseas universities that offer PhD with publication), but i wanted to experience the rigor of both research and coursework and hence there were no doubts in pursuing PhD at NUS.
How does graduate school compare to your undergraduate experience?
More fulfilling. It was a holistic learning experience as in addition to academic and research work, i participated in programs such as Graduate conference and held student leadership positions such as Marketing director for the 3rd Annual Graduate Scientific Congress. This gave me exposure to understand various aspects of arranging big events, learning from gradate students from other courses, and importance of effective communication and the team work.
Briefly share about your research or thesis (i.e. dissertation topic for Masters by Coursework students).
For my PhD, I developed a postnatal Psychoeducation programme (PPP) to support community dwelling new mothers. The PPP was delivered via RCT. The mothers who were randomized to intervention group, received the PPP, which entailed a 90 minute educational session in the form of a home visit by the midwife. The programme was well liked by the new mothers. The findings were disseminated in five (x 5) peer reviewed high impact factor top-tired nursing journals.
On hindsight, would you have chosen the same research supervisor for your graduate programme?
Yes
What impact do you hope to have with your research?
I am grateful that my research findings are already translated (developed educational program has been used by the maternity unit of public hospital as well as the Ministry of Family and Health Development ) to support Singaporean parents. I continue to wish that all the research that i am doing currently and will do in future, will be able to make a change in the lives of my research participants (new parents, women and children) that matter.
Academic Activities
“The following are the awards and selected few conferences i have received/ participated after my PhD:
2021 President award for Nurses for my exemplary contributions to Nursing Profession
2021 The Friend of MSF award for my voluntary work and contributions in supporting new parents during COVID-19
2020 The ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women, Honourable Mention and regional Finalist for my work on Preventive health (Postpartum Depression among new mothers).
2020 NUHS Research Educator Award for developing educational programs for new parents
2020 Invited expert on the advisory panel on parenting by the Ministry of Social and Family health (MSF) in Singapore
2020 Invited conference chair for 8th international Nurse Education Conference
2019 Invited keynote speaker at International Forum of New Collaboration in Advanced Maternal-Child health, held in Tainan, Taiwan
2019 Annual teaching Excellence Award
2018 Invited workshop facilitator at 15th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC) held in Singapore
2018- Executive committee Member of Global Working Group on Salutogenesis (GWG-SAL) (representing Southeast Asia)
2018 Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
2017- Nominated Specialist Adult Educator at Institute of Adult Learning (IAL) Singapore
2017- Nominated Member of the exclusive Institute for Application of Learning Science and Educational Technology (ALSET) group NUS
2017 Outstanding Women in Medical Science Awarded by Venus International Foundation for the
Development of mobile Health App based educational programme for new parents
2017 Invited Keynote speaker, 2nd Annual Women’s Meet-AWM 2017 held in Chennai India
2016 Hitachi Research Fellowship
2016 Invited plenary speaker, 8th Annual Virtual International day of the midwife conference
2015 Emerging Nurse Scholar competitive award by the prestigious Bloomberg (Lawrence &
Bloomberg) Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto
2014 President’s Graduate Fellowship for exceptional promise or accomplishment in
Research, National University of Singapore.
2013 Invited Plenary Speaker, 1st Singapore-Hong Kong Congress on Innovation in
Nursing Practice, Singapore General Hospital.
2013 Outstanding Research Award, 16th East Asian Forum for Nursing Scholars (EAFONS), Bangkok, Thailand”
Other Endeavours
Yes, Currently i am PI of few other projects. The most notable one is the multi-centered RCT where i am evaluating a mobile health app based educational program titled “Supportive Parenting APP” (SPA) among Singaporean parents and their newborns.