GOING from resident nurse to IT executive was a huge change for 39-year-old Tan Ming Chu.
It was a struggle as she went from waiting on patients to developing computer software and building IT architectures, said Ming Chu, now the deputy director of the National Healthcare Group's IT division.
Throw to her terms like cognitive impairment, geriatrics and apraxia (the loss of ability to move) - and the nurse of six years will not bat an eyelid.
Understanding local area networks, storage management and virtualisation was a "struggle" - initially, at least.
But the National University of Singapore (Bachelor of Nursing) graduate says she has no regrets about her career switch. She is tapping from her years in nursing to improve the most urgent patient needs via technology.
For instance, speeding the waiting time to see a doctor and improving the ease of obtaining medication.
"Medical practices are always evolving. We need to keep up with these advances so as to align IT to healthcare whenever applicable," she explained.
It was this desire to improve medical procedures and a love for technology that propelled Ming Chu to switch jobs.
She is now busy rolling out clinical solutions in NHG's 17 clinics and hospitals, as well as mapping out strategic directions for the group's IT systems. One of these involves developing a Computerised Clinicians Order Entry, which allows doctors to electronically order lab-test results.
Pharmacist prescribes IT
UNLIKE other teenagers who lived and breathed basketball and soccer, Neo Wee Ming (main head picture), 37, used to prefer fiddling with computer programs. It was this love that inspired him to fuse IT with pharmacy while he was studying in the National University of Singapore.
"I developed an IT system which was related to pharmaceutical purchasing even before I joined NHG (National Healthcare Group) as a pharmacist," said the Bachelor of Science graduate.
Among his earliest postings were stints at private retail pharmacy outlets. After three years, Wee Ming was dying for a change. An inhouse advertisement for IT headcount was just the ticket.
"Once in the IT industry, I found the challenges and rewards to be sufficiently motivating so I stayed on from there since 2000," he added.
Now, eight years later, this manager of the NHG's IT division is heavily involved in improving the allocation of medication to hospitals.
He worked with a team to develop outpatient electronic prescribing systems which allow doctors to do digital prescriptions, which are faster and more accurate than written ones.
Wee Ming has also worked on a nation-wide medical records exchange system that lets clinicians view medical records - such as lab results - from any medical institutions within NHG and Singhealth.
Digital diagnoses
MOST people would baulk at giving up a big pay checque - and the title of "Doctor" - to sit in front of a computer and develop software. But Colin Quek, 42, made that decision 14 years ago.
"Initially, there was little difference in pay when I switched jobs, but the gap has certainly widened as my peers became specialists. So I try not to look at my bank account book too often," quipped the CIO of Raffles Medical Group. A specialised surgeon can earn about $22,800 a month, compared to $8,200 for someone in IT.
Colin said his love for IT led him to switch fields. "I had a keen interest in computers from the day I set my eyes on an Apple II computer in Secondary Three. So when the chance to do a career switch came, it was too good an opportunity to pass up."
Colin, who graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from National University of Singapore, has been in the healthcare IT sector for 14 years. "My IT knowledge came from interest-driven self-learning and on-the-job experience," he said.
He also keeps up-to-date with advances in the industry by constant reading. Initially, he devoured medical journals and magazines to improve his technical knowledge, and overcome the "steep learning curve" he faced when he first switched jobs.
"But it was fulfilling because I had the opportunity to be at the frontline when IT started making inroads into clinical care," he said. As a CIO, the father of three identifies potential technologies for use in hospitals.
For instance, in 2000, the group's IT infrastructure was revamped, and all staff were put on a common private network. Multiple firewalls were removed and a common mail system put in. Colin says his next big move will be to improve the "redundancy and resiliency" of IT systems.
