Consultant Loh Lih Ming is one of six to receive the Superstar service award today
PATIENTS who step into the consulting rooms of Dr Loh Lih Ming can sense right away that they are in the hands of a caring doctor. “Do you know why you are here?” she asks gently of every patient and then works hard to ensure that the patient understands his or her condition. This awareness is a vital part of their treatment, said Dr Loh, who specialises mainly in treating hormonal disorders which can cause fertility problems, hypertension, osteoporosis and other ailments. “Patients often use visits to the doctor to benchmark their condition, rather than the problems that brought them to the doctor in the first place,” she said. Using diagrams, pictures and analogies, she brings their attention back to their bodies, explaining their condition in uncomplicated terms.
Dr Loh, 43, a consultant in the department of endocrinology at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), is to be recognised today with the Singapore Health Quality Service Award, now in its second year. The award, open to all health-care institutions, is for exceptional care and service among health-care, support and administrative staff, as well as clinical practice and service improvement teams for enhancing patient health and safety. A total of 2,694 award recipients from 17 organisations will be honoured today in the Kallang Theatre. Dr Loh is one of six recipients of the Superstar award – the best of the best. She will receive her award from the guest of honour, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong. Her compassionate, holistic approach has been noticed before: she often tops her department in the number of patient compliments received. Other accolades include the SGH Service with a Heart award, which she received five times, and the SGH CEO Service Award, given to her in 2010. Fluent in Mandarin and English, Dr Loh has also learnt some Cantonese, Hokkien and Malay to communicate with her patients better. “You need to be clear about what’s going on,” she said.
Instead of focusing only on a patient’s disorder during check-ups, she also discusses his or her daily eating and exercise habits, sleeping patterns and even social lives. “It’s the type of counselling I try to do. It becomes a much more holistic discussion about how to live healthily.” During consultations with patients, she does not take phone calls or texts. “I want to give them my undivided attention. It’s important to be able to hear what they’re saying,” she said. Dr Loh was surprised when compliments started coming in. “It’s intrinsic to my character to want to tell people things but it’s nice to see that you make a difference in someone’s life,” she said. Dr Loh, who has a spring in her step, purple-tinted hair and a warm, direct disposition, has put in 14 years at SGH. Interaction with patients “lights a fire in my belly”, she said.
Teaching is another thing that keeps her motivated. She has been a core faculty member of the Sing- Health Internal Medicine Residency Programme and a director of residency affairs at her department since early 2010. “To teach the next generation is a privilege. It keeps you on your toes. You need to know your stuff,” she said. Dr Loh imparts the “soft-sciences” of medicine – “how to greet a patient, how to hold a hand” – during her teaching. “You don’t just learn from books, you also learn from observing your seniors,” she said. Excellent marks for science and maths at school set the eldest of four of a doctor-dad and nurse-mum on her career path. “Sometimes I wish I had been more imaginative,” she said of her vocation, “but I just can’t imagine doing something else”. Her husband, whom she married in 1994, is a kidney specialist who is now in private practice. Their family includes a teenage daughter and eight cats, mostly strays.
In 2010, Dr Loh’s compassion caught the eye of co-workers and she was asked to be the chairman of the SGH Volunteer Club, which holds three charity events and a fund-raiser a year. The club earned a President’s Social Service Award that year. She said the role is very rewarding. “It gives you a new energy to come to SGH – to meet other people who are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, other people who are dedicated.”