08 Jan 2012
By: HAZEL TAN
AFTER nearly 20 years of being a nurse, Ms Lim Su Fee, who works in the rehabilitation medicine department of the Singapore General Hospital, felt the need to boost her knowledge and hone her skills.
So, in 2010, with an Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing PhD scholarship offered by SingHealth, she decided to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) full-time at the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies in the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Says the mother of two children aged nine and four: “I need to be equipped with advanced knowledge and skills that are essential to develop and practise evidence-based medicine.”
As an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) registered with Singapore Nursing Board, Ms Lim’s work in the hospital involves providing consultation on patient care during the morning clinical round and conducting “advanced patient assessment which includes history taking and physical examination”.
“I can also order investigations, treatments and evaluate patient outcomes. I play an active role in providing counselling and education for patients and caregivers as well as nurses’ training,” adds the 40-year-old who also holds a Master of Nursing from NUS.
Before she enrolled in the PhD programme, she did her research and benchmarked the programme against those offered by overseas universities.
The high quality of education offered by Singapore’s universities and the idea of being close to home appealed to her.
“NUS is the only university that offers PhD (nursing) programme locally. The programme has a rigorous structure and curriculum for students to develop and sharpen the requisite skills and fundamental knowledge in research. It also promotes intellectual independence. These attributes are essential in future research and evidence-based practice. NUS is also an ideal place where I can study without being away from my family,” Ms Lim adds.
The PhD programme consists of 28 module credits, and includes three core modules and three elective modules. Students have the flexibility to take up elective modules offered by Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine or by other faculties, research institutes and centres. This provides them with the platform and opportunity to have intellectual exchanges with local and overseas graduate students and professors.
“The most interesting module I have studied so far is the ‘seminar in translational medicine’. We have a series of lectures from various specialists as well as active intellectual exchanges with students from other faculties. This module widens my knowledge beyond the boundaries of my specialty.”
Under the PhD programme, students engage in supervised research with staff from Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies for their period of candidature. They are required to submit an 80,000 word thesis at the end of the programme.
On average, the PhD programme spans five years for full-time students and seven years if taken part-time. Ms Lim hopes to complete her PhD programme by 2014. She says it is a challenge to juggle motherhood with full-time postgraduate studies.
“I plan my time in such a way that I spend my weekdays doing my PhD studies and weekends with my family. My parents and husband are very supportive. Together with my helper, they take care of my kids if I am late. During stressful periods, I will take breaks and participate in family oriented activities.”
The establishment of the NUS nursing alumni in August last year marks a milestone for Singapore’s nursing history as it is the first local graduate nursing school with an alumni association. Ms Lim is hopeful that the initiative and alumni will spur the nursing fraternity to greater heights.
Postgraduate education is a worthy investment as “continuous learning opens doors to greater hopes and opportunities”. She recommends the PhD course to nurses “who wish to lead, excel and make an impact on evidence-based medicine”.
“With the emerging challenges in health care and demand for evidence-based medicine, there is definitely a rising need for PhD-prepared nurses,” she says.
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