SGH stint helps student ‘understand content taught in school’
Packing medicine, labelling medications and interacting with patients were among tasks given to polytechnic student Pang Shi Jie (picture) during his six-month internship at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
And it was time well spent as the internship helped the 20-year-old be a better student during his final year at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP).
Mr Pang, who received his Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences at NYP’s graduation ceremony yesterday, had a perfect grade point average (GPA) score of 4. He also won the Lee Kuan Yew Award, which is given to outstanding graduates from the technology and science courses.
In an interview with TODAY, Mr Pang said his SGH stint from March to August last year had given him the exposure he needed to help him understand the lessons that he would take in his final semester.
For example, he learnt how medication is prescribed while working at the hospital’s pharmacies.
“When someone is actually able to have hands-on experience ... it allows him to actually know better (and) understand ... the content that the lecturers are actually talking (about in school),” said Mr Pang, who will further his studies at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Pharmacy.
Mr Pang’s passion for the health sciences started when he was in secondary school, after he noticed that his relatives did not know much about the medication they were taking or their side effects.
The Sengkang Secondary School student later joined the Red Cross Society as a co-curricular activity and went on to become its president. Determined to be a pharmacist, he chose to study pharmaceutical sciences at NYP.
“I’m someone who likes to teach, so a career in pharmacy actually allows me to educate my patients and help them understand more about the medication they’re taking,” he added.
Apart from being academically inclined, Mr Pang also likes to come up with inventions.
He participated in the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Competition last year and earned a commendation award for his Umbrella Sheath, a device that offers an alternative to plastic bags that are used to keep small umbrellas away when they are wet. Amanda Lee
