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Background: The interdisciplinary realm of medical humanities explores narratives and experiences that can enhance medical education for physicians through perspective-taking and reflective practice. However, there is a gap in comprehension regarding its appropriateness at the postgraduate level, especially when utilising art therapists as faculty. This study aims to assess the acceptability of an innovative art therapy-focused educational initiative among junior doctors during a palliative care rotation, with the goal of cultivating empathy and promoting well-being. Methods: A qualitative research project was conducted at the Division of Supportive and Palliative Care (DSPC) in the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS). The study involved the recruitment of junior doctors who had successfully completed a three-month palliative care rotation program, spanning from January 2020 to April 2021. In a single small-group session lasting 1.5 h, with 3 to 4 participants each time, the individuals participated in activities such as collage making, group reflection, and sharing of artistic creations. These sessions were facilitated by an accredited art therapist and a clinical psychologist, focusing on themes related to empathy and wellbeing. To assess the acceptability of the program, two individual interviews were conducted three months apart with each participant. An independent research assistant utilised a semi-structured question guide that considered affective attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, coherence, and self-efficacy. Thematic analysis of the transcribed data was then employed to scrutinise the participants' experiences. Results: A total of 20 individual interviews were completed with 11 participants. The three themes identified were lack of pre-existing knowledge of the humanities, promotors, and barriers to program acceptability. Conclusions: The participants have mixed perceptions of the program's acceptability. While all completed the program in its entirety, the acceptability of the program is impeded by wider systemic factors such as service and manpower needs. It is vital to address these structural limitations as failing to do so risks skewing current ambivalence towards outright rejection of future endeavours to integrate humanities programs into medical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The WHO declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. Lessons from SARS epidemic led Singapore to develop stringent infection control protocols in preparation for future pandemics. However, unlike SARS, COVID-19 appears to be more transmissible and is predicted to continue for longer. As of 14 June 2020, there have been 40,197 positive cases with 26 deaths in Singapore, and KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) has managed a total of 73 cases. Obstetrics ultrasound is an indispensable medical service and must continue to operate during a pandemic. A key balance must be struck between keeping patients and healthcare workers safe while being able to provide quality and prompt obstetric care. Our Antenatal Diagnostic Centre (ADC) in KKH developed new strategies to adapt to the pandemic when the national Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) was raised from yellow to orange on 7 February 2020. In this paper, we discuss our clinical workflow to reduce the risk of transmission amongst patients and staff while minimising disruption to our services.

Natural product is an important source of new drug research and development (R&D). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) innovation is the key step for its modernization and internationalization. However, due to the complexity of TCM, there are many difficulties and confusions in this process. Target-based drug discovery is the mainstream model and method of R&D. TTD, short for therapeutic target database, is developed by National University of Singapore. Besides a large amount of information on drug targets, the database also contains considerable information related to natural products. This paper briefly introduces the TTD, analyzes the natural products derived drugs/compounds recorded in TTD, which we think might provide some inspiration for the innovation of TCM.