Yours Toothfully by Dr Chan Joon Yee

Singapore’s most trusted professions

1. Firefighter

2. Doctor

3. Judge

4. Teacher

5. Surgeon

6. Pilot

7. Paramedic

8. Nurse

9. Pharmacist

10. Dentist

yao mo gao chor ah? Dentist is No. 10? People trust firefighters more than doctors and surgeons? Interesting findings there. I certainly hope none of my patients were in that survey, but I can’t help but wonder. To me, firefighters are a rather obscure breed of individuals. I probably know more secret agents than firefighters. But seriously, I’m no snob. I have real friends who are taxi drivers and hawkers. I trust that Alfred and Eddy would take me to my destination via the shortest route. I trust that James won’t try to mask the smell of stale seafood with spices when I visit his stall for supper. Firefighter? Sorry, I can’t recall.

How many firefighters do these folks really know and how did they get to know them? Unless these folks store petrol in their homes, they probably see a doctor more often than they see a firefighter. Could doctors have given them such a bad impression that they would rather have their prescriptions written by a firefighter? Interesting.

Don’t get me wrong. I do trust that if my home is on fire, the guys in the red helmets would be rushing down and risking their lives to save me. Without them I would be literally toast. But frankly, if a doctor, dentist, teacher, pilot, nurse, pharmacist friend (I actually have friends in those professions, even a former judge) and a firefighter whom I hardly know want to borrow money from me, I would give my money to the doctor dentist, teacher, pilot, nurse, pharmacist any day.

So what is it that makes people trust firefighters so much? Do firefighters hold concerts and get the girls screaming when they tear their shirts apart? Do firefighters hang out a lot in public, do a lot of community work, kiss babies, shake hands with hawkers … oops … wrong profession. Is it the civil defence exercises and demonstrations that always have a very big wow factor? Is it Gurmit Singh and Michelle Chia that appeared so cool in the local drama series Lifeline?

I’m sure Gurmit and Michelle have their fans and there are people who rave over Lifeline. But apart from yours truly who never followed the series (I had to do a Google search to recall its name), there are other people who don’t think that much of the fiery series either:

http://faithtoh.blogspot.com/2005/11/lifeline-kills-me.html

So for some strange reason, there are (hopefully intelligent) people who still trust firefighters more than the other listed professions. Do I think it’s a problem? What can I do to improve patient confidence if dentists rank so low in the trusted list? Maybe I should employ an ex-firefighter to collect money from my patients. Or perhaps I should wear a firefighter’s helmet when I work. That should make my patients feel more secure.

It’s a worrying trend. Almost every week, there would be a case of a doctor/doctors being censured. It’s usually due to the over-prescription of addictive drugs. Sometimes, it gets more “exotic” like passing off as a plastic surgeon when you’re are really a GP. It’s just the beginning of 2010 and the axes are already grinding. Bring in the lawyers and we’ll all smell blood. And the public will love it at first.

Then, they’re going to find their doctors becoming less “flexible” with prescriptions and MCs. Charges are likely to go up if the risks of getting sued or suspended see a upward trend and professional indemnity costs more.

Cost more? No way. There is only one thing that can cost more in Singapore. And if the Ministry Of Good Ideas rakes me in with a salary of $1M a year, I would gladly sabo my medical colleagues with some bright ideas and brilliant policies which will keep the public very happy.

Like I said, there is only one thing that can cost more in Singapore. It’s better to have a lion lead a herd of sheep than to have a sheep lead a pride of lions. Of course! Who is going to lead if the lions eat up their sheepish leader? If citizens are not like sheep, how are the lions ever going to grow fat? Oops! I digress. My job in the Ministry of Good Ideas is to make sure that only one thing goes up and everything else must be better and cost less. So how do we rein in the poor and desperate doctors? How do we satisfy a public that keeps thinking that the doctors earn too much? I have an idea. Let’s go to Haiti.

In the aftermath of the devastating 7.0 earthquake, there are bound to be starving survivors dying to leave this sea of decomposing dead bodies in search of a more pleasant environment. How about Singapore? To date, we have not sent anybody down there to distribute aid and supplies. Why not do something better? Why not absorb Haitian doctors and make them citizens? After that 7.0 shock, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind working from 5am to 10pm for a loaf of bread and a couple of bananas. Yes! That’s the kind of citizens we need. Hardworking and hungry. Our local doctors had better stand on their toes and put some spurs on their behinds.

Oh! And make sure the psychiatrists don’t have any weapons within easy reach.

Health in Algeria, according to information from a March 6, 2006 United States report, does not compare well with the developed world. Algeria has inadequate numbers of physicians (one per 1,000 people) and hospital beds (2.1 per 1,000 people) and poor access to water (87 percent of the population) and sanitation (92 percent of the population). Given Algeria’s young population, policy favors preventive health care and clinics over hospitals. In keeping with this policy, the government maintains an immunization program. However, poor sanitation and unclean water still cause tuberculosis, hepatitis, measles, typhoid fever, cholera, and dysentery. In 2003 about 0.10 percent of the population aged 15–49 was living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The poor generally receive health care free of charge, but the wealthy pay for care according to a sliding scale. Access to health care is enhanced by the requirement that doctors and dentists work in public health for at least five years. However, doctors are more easily found in the cities of the north than in the southern Sahara region.

Describe your experience giving birth there. What type of facility did you go to? What (if any) type of pain management did you use? How long did you stay in the hospital? Was it a positive experience? Etc…



“Well, all I can say is horrible. No pain managment at all, filthy conditions…had to take my own bedding with me. You have to wait with other women in a waiting area to be processed. Lots of women screaming in pain while waiting. Then you are taken to a room full of other women giving birth. They can see you and you them. You have nurses come and hold you down by your shoulders and legs to stop you moving and then a doctors pushes down on your stomach and rolls his arms along you stomach to push the baby out. Then, you are transfered onto a bed with blood all over it from the women who was there before you then you are put into a room with blood soaked bedding, coachroaches as big as houses, no water to wash your baby or yourself as they don’t do it and even if you go private. If there is a problem with the birth you are sent back to the public hospital as cannot deal with emergencies.”

Let us all give a very big salute to our fellow citizens who are roughing it out in Algeria.