LEE XITIAN, CLAUDIA

executive summary/abstract

This is the clinic that we have been visiting to interview the pilots and ATCs. It is located in the Integrated Building in Changi General Hospital.

My group’s project was regarding the Pilots and Air Traffic Control Officers’ health perceptions and health services utilizations. Hence, for our project, we had to head down to the Aviation Clinic in the Integrated Building of Changi General Hospital to meet and interview the pilots and Air Traffic Control Officers. We understood that the Licensing Medical Examination, also known as the LME, was a requirement for all pilots and air traffic control officers by CAAS, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

We interviewed 15 pilots and air traffic control officers and 5 staff members in the Aviation Clinic which allowed us to know the concerns and thoughts of the clients better. Afterwards, we were then asked to present our findings to the mentors in Powerpoint format.

Background information of the projects / tasks which I was involved in.

This shows the rooms the pilots and ATCs visit for their consultation.

This is the waiting area for the patients.

The project aims to allow the doctors and staff to know more about the pilots and air traffic control officers’ patient experiences with health screening as well as their health perceptions and health services utilization. This would be useful to the clinic as they wanted to provide the best services for their clients. Hence, personally receiving feedback from them would be the best way to know their thoughts and attitudes towards the medical examination and their personal health. Therefore, we were tasked to interview the pilots and air traffic control officers to find out how they feel.

In order to better know the various parties involved in the LME, we did some background research on the doctors, pilots and air traffic control officers.

Moreover, in order to understand the pilots and air traffic control officers better, we also interviewed the doctors, clinic assistants as well as the staff at the reception. Afterwards, we then collated and analyzed the results collated and placed it in a Powerpoint form for our presentation.

For our interview, we were required to craft the questions ourselves. For our first draft of questions, we sent it to Dr. Mok to be vetted. From then, we then had a total of 10 questions to ask the clients. After our first round of interview, we were then required to come out with more questions to ask them. After listening to feedback given by the mentors we then decided to edit our interview questions. As we had only asked questions regarding their thoughts of the services in the clinic and their lifestyle in the first interview, we then expanded the scope of our interview to ask them about their perceptions of their job and physical and mental health.

We also drafted some questions to ask the staff in the clinic to further understand the pilots and air traffic control officers’ situation. We targeted the questions to know more about how the staff felt about their clients’ behaviour and how the services in the clinic could be improved.

Finally, we then created our Powerpoint presentation that included our findings and research.

elaboration/record of the activities done

During the 13 days where we were present at Changi General Hospital, we spent 4 days interviewing the pilots and air traffic control officers.

8/1/2020

We were able to try out some of the tests the pilots and air traffic control officers had to go through during the LME. This includes the CAD, colour plates, maddox rod.

10/1/2020

We managed to interview 2 pilots. They were a Cadet and a First Officer. Although we only managed to interview 2 people, we were able to identify similar traits and the differences between the 2 of them. However, as it was the first time we met the pilots and spoke to them, we were quite nervous which led to us stuttering a little.

16/1/2020 - 17/1/2020

We managed to interview a total of 11 more pilots; 5 Captains, 3 First Officers, 2 Senior First Officers and a Cadet. From there, we analysed all the results we gathered after transcribing them.

20/1/2020

We were able to talk to 2 air traffic control officers. Hence, we were able to hear from them and learn more about what they think about their health and the services provided in the clinic.

22/1/2020 & 23/1/2020

In order to make sure that we are on task, we met up with Dr. How to update him on our progress. After listening to his advice, we edited our work and tried to fulfil his requirements. We also crafted questions to ask the doctors, clinic assistants and staff at the reception to know more about their view of their clients and to ensure their our view would not be biased and to know how much the staff understands about their clients. We also tried to ensure that our work would be more organised and clearer by using graphs and charts after listening to Dr. How’s advice. Therefore, we spent 22/1/2020 and 23/1/2020 interviewing the staff.

Also, on 23/1/2020, we managed to sit in and observe part of the process of the LME. Personally, I managed to observe the Ishihara Test, Near Reading Test, Maddox Wing, Convergence, Snellen Chart and lastly, the CAD while one of my group-mates was able to observe the taking of blood pressure and blood test.

From what we had observed and collected, we were then able to finish our presentation slides as well as come up with some suggestions that can enable the clinic to provide better services for the clients.

As our main job was interviewing the pilots and air traffic control officers, we had to bare with some impatient clients at some points of time. This was one of the more difficult and stressful part of our work as we had to learn to deal with the interviewees by talking to them politely and carefully. However, this only applies to a minority as most of the interviewees were very friendly and accommodating as they answered our questions patiently.

elaboration/record of results

Before meeting the pilots and air traffic control officers, we decided to do some research on the various groups of people to understand them and their jobs better. From our research, we learnt that the doctors were known as Designated Medical Examiner (DME) and their main job was to conduct the LME to ensure that the pilots and air traffic control officers are suitable to be granted a license. We also learnt that the DMEs had gone through simulations of being in control of an aircraft just like a pilot. This allows the doctors to understand the job of a pilots better. As for the pilots, we learnt that they have to attend a live board interview every 4th renewal of their license. This is to elicit information about their mental health and find out how they are coping with their job. For the air traffic control officers, we learnt that there were 3 sections of control; Aerodrome, Approach and Area and the officers would be assigned to either one of the 3 areas. We also learnt that it was a highly demanding and challenging job as it requires them to be observant and aware of their surroundings or what is going on in their computer screen.

After interviewing all the pilots and air traffic control officers, we collated the results and placed it into our final presentation. We then analysed the results and categorised the results into: Efficiency in the clinic, Reaction of clients towards the LME, Services provided in the clinic, Perceptions of mental health, Perceptions of physical health, Clients' lives while working and Common complaints and compliments. We also collated the answers we gathered from our interview session with the clinic staff. After comparing the answers and looking into what we had observed, we came out with suggestions to help the pilots and air traffic control officers to know more about their health and to experience better services in the clinic.

3 content knowledge/skills needed

Having good communication and interviewing skills was important for our project. This is because our project required us to be the one approaching the other party and asking them questions face-to-face. This required us to be able to speak well and think fast as we might have to ask the interviewees questions on the spot. We also had to be polite and respectful at all times.
In order to understand the interviewees better, I think that it is important for us to know the background information of their jobs. Hence, I think it is important for us to be responsible enough to do some research on the relevant parties before we interviewed them. For example, during our research, we found out that the doctors have gone through simulations of being in a cockpit for them to understand the job of a pilot better. As for the pilots and air traffic controllers, we found out when their license was due and when they have to go for their checkup.
It is also important for us to be enthusiastic while doing our project. This is because we are often meeting strangers and asking them to help us by answering our questions. Hence, we need to be involved and always put on a smile when talking to them.

2 interesting aspects of my learning

From what I heard and observed during the attachment, I realised nothing is easy and we have to be disciplined at all times, as we were mostly on our own during the whole project. Hence, in order for us to be on task, we have to ensure that we do things according to our schedule and finish our work on time. Therefore, being disciplined ensures that we do not procrastinate and also ensures that our task is done well.
As our task mainly consists of interviews, we have to be fast writers as well as keen listeners. This is because we are mainly talking and listening to others hence it is important to pay attention to the other party while taking notes of what they said at the same time. Hence, in order to ensure that we do not miss out information, we split the jobs within our group and ensured that there was a scriptwriter and an interviewer at all times.

1 takeaway for life

I learnt to be passionate at whatever we were doing. During our attachment at the aviation clinic in CGH, we had to meet many people and do work on our own accord. Hence, we have to be passionate at whatever we were doing so that we do not lose interest. This is especially because we are meeting new people and we do not want to give them a bad impression of ourselves. We also have to learn to be aware of the other party’s feelings and behaviour so that we do not offend them accidentally. This may be difficult to do at times but as long as we are interested and passionate in our project, we would be able to complete our work and ensure the quality of our work.

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