MTS#23 Dr. Alvona Loh, Medical Officer, Ministry of Health on Being a Doctor & Learning Mandarin

Mr. Tok Show

Dr. Alvona Loh is a young doctor from Singapore. She studied Medicine at National University of Singapore and is currently practising at the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID). She also writes and review medical research papers to promote academia.

She has also been writing and contributing articles to media outlets such as Lianhe Zaobao and TODAY over the years. She is also known for being effectively bilingual, with a strong command of both English and Mandarin.

In this episode, we discuss life as a junior doctor working in a Singapore public hospital, her advice for aspiring doctors, her family background, how she became effectively bilingual and adulting issues.

Connect with Dr. Alvona on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvona-loh/

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction 1:02 Working as a Medical Officer at the National Center for Infectious Disease 4:40 Most & Least Enjoyable Aspects of Job 10:36 The Roster Monster 12:25 The Night Calls 13:39 The Healthcare Great Resignation 14:57 Dr. Alvona's Career Path 16:18 JJ's Experience as a Caregiver/Learning Lessons from the Hospitals 20:54 Palliative Medicine 24:51 Experience with Death Growing Up/Grandfather's Passing Away 26:15 Lessons from Being a Doctor 28:15 Mayor of Taipei City: Professor Ko Wen-je 30:08 Advice for Aspiring Doctor33:01 Has She Always Wanted to be a Doctor?/Attachment Experiences 35:17 Family Background 37:05 Our Experiences in Kebun Bahru 39:45 JJ's Memory of his Paternal Grandmother 41:46 On Community Service 47:07 On Living as a Millennial 49:57 Issues on Dr. Alvona's Mind 52:18 On Singapore Politics/Joining Business China 55:40 China's Variety Shows (最强大脑&奇葩说) 1:02:13 JJ on Distributing Mandarin Content in China 1:04:22 On Bilingualism, Chinese Culture and Learning Mandarin 1:10:55 On Other Cultures 1:12:08 Making an Effort to Learn Mandarin/Writing for Lianhe Zaobao 1:14:58 On Writing 1:18:22 Learning from a Film Production Set 1:19:26 Plans for Upcoming Community Work in Thailand/Lifelong Learning 1:23:36 On Relationships (Does Dr. Alvona have a Boyfriend?) 1:28:37 Dr. Alvona's Ideal Partner 1:31:20 On Adulting/Adult Money 1:34:54 Dealing with People's Perceptions 1:36:44 On Recognizing Own Strengths & Weaknesses 1:38:22 People's Judgement & Assumption 1:42:04 Wanting to Learn Tiktok 1:44:50 On Gender Stereotypes 1:50:10 Our Views on Toxic Masculinity 1:55:18 On Raising Boys & Girls 1:56:30 Outro

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