1192. Vet specialists in Singapore

Vet Specialists in Singapore

Reply to an ex-Intern in her 5^th year of study

EMAIL TO AN EX-INTERN OF TOA PAYOH VETS. SHE DID HER INTERNSHIP DURING HER JC2 YEAR Sep 20,2013 Hi I am Dr Sing from Toa Payoh Vets. I hope all are well with you. When will you be graduating? ------------------------------- · Hello Dr Sing! I haven't spoken to you in a long time! how are you? I will be starting year 5 in 2 months and will graduate by end of next year! Time has flown by so quickly! I am excited yet apprehensive at the same time! Do you have any tips for me starting rotations? :) ---------------------- Plan early n see more of the exotic places u will never travel to unless u see practice -------------------------------- haha yes we have settled our rotation schedule already and i will be going to thailand OIE for my public practice rotation which i might get to go to lao/cambodia/vietnam/malaysia too!  With your experience and expertise, do you think Singapore will be a good place for me to come back as a fresh graduate or would it be better if I work in Australia for 1-2 years before coming back to singapore to work?  Also based on Singapore's current pet industry, how important is it to do a specialist course after graduation? --------------------- Oct 14, 2013 Montreal, Canada As I seldom read Facebook messages, I am sorry for the belated reply to your msg dated Sep 21, 2013 THE VETERINARY SITUATION IN SINGAPORE IN 2014   1. More fresh graduates are coming home to less good positions and less salaries. The bigger practices want vets with experience nowadays.  2. Estimated 60 veterinary practices exist now. Good for pet owners who want proximity. Some practices close but more are opening. Should be 70 when you graduate as these practices have good financial backers. 3. A practice may have more than "10 vets' listed but many are part-timers. 4. A vet can start his own practice only after one year of working and many have strong financial back ups to start up. 5. Work in Australia for 2 years - only if you can find a top small animal practice with lots of variety of cases and surgeries and equipment like MRI. 6. Get a specialist degree in opthalmology or orthopedics as Singapore is very short of specialists, if you are passionate about this specialty. However, a specialist doing general practice work like vaccination and spays will not be respected or referred to. In any case, be prepared for little income for some time. 7. A specialist needs to start his own practice with good updated equipment. I visited Hong Kong vet practice in an upscale area. The nurse told me that she would refer a case for MRI to a certain practice with the expertise as that practice has the experts reading the scan.. In other words, owning an MRI or CT scan does not mean much if the vet has no solid experience in reading MRI scans as the feeder clinics will not refer to the vet who has such sophisticated equipment without the expertise to use and read the scans.   8. In conclusion, what is your interest and passion in small animal practice. As to being a specialist, this will take you many years preferably in the USA, before other GP vets will refer cases to you.   I hope this answers your queries. -----------------------------------  Thank you for your reply and advice, Dr Sing. It was very informative. What if I do not specialise but work 1-2 years in Australia before I go back to Singapore? Will that affect adversely on my career? Where would you suggest to be a good country (besides Australia) to work in after graduation? Because Australia is on the verge of removing Vets off the Skilled Work List which means that we might not be able to get a visa to work in Australia if they change the law, and that will take place in July next year, before I graduate. Enjoy your trip in Canada! -------------------   Oct 15, 2013 There appears to be an impending economic recession for the heartlanders in Singapore and intense competition in the private sector. Rentals and staff costs keep increasing every year as many properties are controlled by a few corporations and rich landlords, as in Hong Kong.  The 60 veterinary practices will not be spared the economics esp. the new ones. The new practices will not be employing more full-time vets paying top salaries as for lawyers. A new graduate lawyer and doctor is said to earn over $7,000/month nowadays but not for new vets with more supply than demand. Therefore, much depends on your assessment, Best place to go is USA and it is best to do a useful specialty degree and be useful to the bigger practices who need to boost their credentials.

1191. Happy tourists at Mural Walls, Quebec Heritage Site,Canada

Street photography is very difficult in tourist areas as there is high traffic of people. This is near the other Mural Walls in old Quebec.

The Cantonese-speaking group was having coffee. I noted "a thorn amongst roses",  pumpkins and flowers making a good street photograph.  Suddenly the Caucasian friends posed in front of them and I got this image fast with the Canon EOS 700D, using the P mode, autofocus, lens 18 - 135mm. This was a "happiness" photograph of close friends.

1190. Marketing techniques: A travel agency's marketing of one optional tour with incentive

Oct 14, 2013  Sheraton Hotel near the Airport  6.49 am

To attract clients with least cost to the USA and Europe, most travel agencies in Singapore practises a marketing tactic - the optional tours to places of interest. Otherwise, just hang around the area while others go.

In this case, there was an incentive. We were asked privately whether we wanted to go on a "1000 island" boat cruise. All must go or non at all. An incentive was a trip to the Montmorency Falls, the 3rd largest in Canada. Otherwise, we would just visit Place Royale and Plains of Abraham. All 36 travellers agreed to go.

Chinese tourists form a big group of travellers to Quebec.

 

1188. Adding value to your customer service - "Harvard University educated" tourist group

Oct 13, 2013

Holiday Inn Express Quebec City (Sainte-Foy) Room 201

Visited Harvard University's Admin campus. There are chairs for the group travellers to take a group photo with the buidling in the background, creating a memory of having been to "Harvard". Unfortunately my tour guide did not do this. Each tour guide has his or her personal handling of the packaged tour. I think it is an excellent idea for the Singaporean tourists who will never meet again.  This will be what I mean as adding "value" to your service. 

The Harvard Shop we visited must be the most productive as it is a small shop of around 300 sq ft, managed by one salesperson. A young Singaporean lady said that the Facebook "likes" for a 10% discount when shown in the mobile phone was not operational. For most tourists, they are older and not able to do it. This is a good marketing method using multi-media.

1187. Customer service is part of the DNA of this airline

Oct 12, 2013
Holiday Inn Boston-Bunker Hill
USA

More than 20 years have passed since I last visited the USA. My children had grown up. SIA has very strong competitors like Emirates. There is a new advertising video of the SIA girl in some tea plantations.

The culture of excellent customer service is in the DNA of this airline at the passenger level in my recenr experience of being offered eye cover on my after midnight flight from Singapore to Frankfurt without me asking for it and the recommendation of spicy tomato juice from the cabin crew. The food is much better now.  The food cabinet spilt scrambled egg as 3 trays slid out just beside my seat, making the Frankfurt-New York journey memorable. "Why don't you vaccum it off?" the American woman asked. "Why not use the broom?" I asked as the male steward used tissues to clear the spilt scrambled eggs. I put a piece ofl tissue to cover it as the cabin crew worked fast to serve brunch to other passengers.

The culture of excellent customer service is in the DNA of this airline. It is team work.
    

1186. The dwarf hamster may lose his right ear

TOA PAYOH VETS toapayohvets.com Date:   01 November, 2013     Focus: Small animals - dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, turtles & rabbits A dwarf hamster keeps scratching his right ear     Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS Date:   01 November, 2013   toapayohvets.com  Be Kind To Pets Veterinary Education Project 2010-0129 Saturday, October 12, 2013 1186. The dwarf hamster may lose his right ear Case written on vacation in the USA Dr Sing Kong Yuen Oct 12, 2013  5.50am Holiday Inn Boston-Bunker Hill Room 300, USA A DIFFERENCE OF VETERINARY OPINION My opinion was that the ear might have to be removed with the ear wart and I informed the owner early. It would be too late during anaesthesia to phone the owner as the Zoletil anaesthesia given IM would last less than 5 minutes. The wart might recur in trying to save the ear if it was malignant.   The husband was much worried. A hamster is family and losing one ear would disfigure this family member. I assigned the case to Dr Daniel who said the ear might not need to be cut off.  He excised the wart and put in 2 stitches. The intact ear was happiness to the couple. To save the couple money, no histopathology of the wart was done and so I don't know whether it is malignant or not. Only time will tell as malignant tumours recur. Update on Nov 1, 2013. No complaint from the couple. No news is good news.   Anaesthesia Post-op recovery Ear wart excised. Goes home Excision of the big wart in the left ear resolves the problem of the hamster continually scratching his ear. blog: http://2010vets.blogspot.sg/2013/10/1186-dwarf-hamster-may-lose-his-right.html   Updates will be on this webpage: www.sinpets.com/F5/20131101hamster_wart.htm More info at: Dogs or Cats To make an appointment: e-mail judy@toapayohvets.com tel: +65 9668-6469, 6254-3326 Toa Payoh Vets Clinical Research

Copyright © Asiahomes All rights reserved. Revised: November 01, 2013 Toa Payoh Vets

1185. Ear warts are quite common in the older dwarf hamster

In this case, the hamster kept scratching his left ear and came in for surgery on Oct 9, 2013. From my observation, I told the husband that the ear might need to be cut off. Dr Daniel handled the surgery and removed the wart, putting in two 4/0 nylon stitches.  Sedation with Zoletil IM. The hamster woke up 30 minutes later. Image of him on a "mouse" was taken 15 minutes after surgery.

Will the hamster still scratch his left ear? There are 2 stitches. As each vet has his or her own approach to surgery, I would not say my approach would be the better. In my approach, I would excise the wart and used KMnO4 powder to cauterise the wound. Or I would use electro-cautery. That would mean no stitches which could irritate the hamster again and would need removal in 10 days' time.