Editor's note:

OncoCare, a subsidiary under Luye Medical International, is now one of the largest private oncology practice in Singapore. The team is helmed by highly trained specialist medical oncologists, palliative care specialists. While the cancer is often the target, the promise of personalized medicine is also about personalized holistic care for the patient’s other physical, emotional, psychosocial and spiritual needs. OncoCare’s quality service has been highly recognized by patients. Robin Wong, a clinic assistant from Gleneagles Medical Center is a member of this team. He compares himself as happy feet in the clinic that brings happy and positive energy to every patient, and thus gained recognitions from a lot of patients. This month, we have invited Robin to share his experience and feeling about working as a clinic assistant.

 
Robin Wong

Q: Thank you Robin for taking this interview, to start with, could you please give us a brief introduction about yourself and your experience with OncoCare.

R: My name is Robin Wong. I'm a Malaysian, this is my second year with OncoCare as a clinic assistant. OncoCare has 7 clinics in Singapore, and I'm based at Gleneagles Medical Center, which is one of the biggest clinics amongst the seven. 

Actually, this is my first job in health care line and I gain a lot from working with my team to serve cancer patients. Before I joined OncoCare, I worked at a coffee shop right next to the clinic. I can see clinic staff pass by my coffee shop every day. Sometimes they come to my coffee shop, drink coffee and talk about their work at the clinic. Working at the clinic can be stressful but also challenging. You can have a sense of achievement and fulfillment by helping those patients in needs. It is quite mysterious and attractive to me. Coincidentally, I met a very nice friend who encouraged and introduced me to give it a try, I changed my job from a barista to a clinic assistant. A funny thing is, most of the clinic staff recognized me, they were surprised to see me jumped from the coffee shop next door to OncoCare.
 

A corner of OncoCare

Q: Talking about your role as a clinic assistant, could you please share with us what do you do on the routine basis at OncoCare? Is there any difference before and after COVID-19?

R: Talking about my routine work at OncoCare is to register and book appointments for patients, arrange blood tests and scans ordered by the doctors. We also assist ad hoc duties also, as well as the financial counseling payment and claim for patients. Regarding the COVID-19, the only difference now is we need to wear N95 mask all the time. Besides that, considering our clinic has many patients, so we have to always make sure that the place is not too crowded like before. This is important for us to practice safety measures, and also we need to patiently address patients and their families consent to give them a piece of mind.

 
Register for patient

Q: What is the most challenging part of your job?

R: We have quite a number of patients at Gleneagles. The most challenging part is I need to ensure every patient being attended and served. At the beginning, I actually missed some of the patients sometimes. But after keeping training for a period of time, I became more and more familiar with operations. I also managed to complete the task faster and are able to do multitasking, which can improve my efficiency. Even though it is still challenging, because we have to follow up and follow through all the cases

Q: From your opinion, what do you think the necessary qualities that a clinical assistant needs to possess, especially in an oncology clinic setting?

R: As the clinic can be a highly emotional place, it is necessary to ensure that the work is done accurately and efficiently. Second, our patients need some moral support during the treatment, so we need to be positive in order to help them. We need to stay calm and positive in the fast-paced and stressful environment every day which is not easy. As a clinic assistant, you need to possess an attitude, which is not to give up. And eventually patient will see our effort for them is being appreciated.
 

Q: As a member of OncoCare, what does the OncoCare team has done to provide a better care environment for patients and their families?

R: We work as a team and in an orderly manner at OncoCare, with different roles and responsibilities to play. For example, I provide services to patients before and after seeing our doctors and dealing with insurance claim and handling all the patient requests. As for the nurses, they handle the patients’ treatment and medication. When a patient enters the clinic, we need to check and register, prepare and bring the patient to the doctor's room. When the consultation is finished, the doctor will pass back us the file and give direct orders, then you pass the orders to the nurses to proceed the treatment and counseling. Generally speaking, this is how our team works and coordinates to give our best effort and provide top notch services for patients. 

We have also organized some special events and campaigns for patients. For example, we have an event called “Hair for Hope”, which is sponsored by a charity called Children’s Cancer Foundation, I’m one of the participants to shave and donate my hair, all the money donated during the campaign will be given to the charity to support patients. I feel very meaningful and glad to be a part of this campaign. I raised 4,000 Singapore dollars, which is quite a lot.
 

Robin donated his hair for Hair for Hope

Q: Can you share with us an impressive case regarding patient care in your experience?

R: I can feel every patient refuses to give up and fights with their own battle, this is very impressive to me. They come to the clinic for treatment on a weekly basis, I can see them getting better gradually.

As I mentioned, before joining OncoCare I was a barista, so actually this is my first job working in health care sector, and it is my first experience to face cancer patients. I remember in the first 3 months when I joined OncoCare, I met a patient who is an old lady. She was very nice and kind to me like my mum, however unfortunately she passed away, and I was very very sad. I started to realize this is an emotional job, so I decided to be the happy feet, I want to make everyone in the clinic to stay positive. When patients enter into the clinic, I talk with them and make them laugh, so they won’t feel stressed about seeing doctors.

Q: Last but not least, do you have any word of wisdom to share with the young generation like you?

R: I love this job, so what I want to say to my peers is: I hope you can also love your job, so that you can work happily.