MUHAMMAD IZZUDDIN BIN HUSEIN

Executive Summary/Abstract

We were posted to Changi General Hospital (CGH), under the aviation department. My exposure and involvement at CGH has allowed me to better understand the work environment in a hospital. My group was tasked to research and find out more on Pilots and Air Traffic Control Officers’ health perceptions and health services utilisation. Under the supervision of Dr. Mok and Dr. How, we interviewed 15 aviation personnel and several doctors, assistants and reception staff of the Changi Aviation Medicine Centre, which was established in CGH in June 2019.

background information oN the organisation

The CGH Campus’ vision is to focus on promoting holistic, patient-centred care for the people of eastern Singapore. It achieves this through integrated and innovative facilities that enable the delivery of seamless, high-quality healthcare services. Under this vision, CGH has added two new facilities – The Integrated Building and the Medical Centre. Opened in December 2014, the Integrated Building provides a conducive healing environment for patients across hospital and rehabilitation settings, including the eventual transition of patients back to their homes.

The department I was assigned to was the Changi Aviation Medical Centre, which was launnched on June 11th, 2019 to support the health needs of Singapore's aviation workforce.

Background Information oN the Project

Our project required us to find out how the Changi Aviation Medicine Centre can be improved to help the pilots and air traffic control officers (ATCOs) to undergo the medical assessment smoothly and efficiently. Over the 13 days we were present at CGH, we interviewed 13 pilots and 2 ATCOs. Through the interviews, we found some of the common complaints and compliments that they had about the clinic. To ensure that the doctors are aware of the areas that the clients are dissatisfied about, we interviewed 2 Designated Medical Examiners (DMEs), who are doctors approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to conduct Licensing Medical Examinations (LMEs) on applicants or holders for the grant or renewal of an aviation license. On top of that, we also interviewed 2 clinic assistants who help with the drawing of blood from clients and 1 reception staff to ensure that the complaints of the clients are unbiased. Besides conducting the interviews, we also researched on the job demands of ATCs and pilots to be more aware of the challenges faced by aviation personnel so that we could contextualise their perceptions and issues.

Elaboration of the activities done

Then, we presented our findings to Dr. How, who told us to form another set of interview questions for the staff of the aviation clinic. He also gave us feedback on how to organise our data, such as using pie charts and bar graphs. Hence, over the next few days, we interviewed the DMEs, clinic assistants and reception staff of the aviation clinic. On top of that, we also observed how aviation personnel took their eye tests, and how the assistants treated them. This is to know whether our interview findings correspond to our observations in the clinic.

deliverables

• We compiled the information from our interviews. Then, we created a Powerpoint presentation on the findings of our interviews and experiences doing the interviews.

3 content knowledge/skills learnt

• Firstly, I learnt how much responsibility aviation personnel have while carrying out their jobs. They have to be medically assessed very frequently to ensure that they are always fit for the job. This is due to the high level of responsibility they have since they are essentially transporting hundreds of people from place to place. As their job requires them to be constantly healthy, they also have to be mentally prepared to fulfil the requirements.
• Secondly, I understood the importance of showing care and concern when one works in the service centre. From my observations, the staff were very approachable towards the clients and they even gave words of encouragement while clients took their tests. However, they still receive complaints from unhappy clients that are dissatisfied with the service. This could be due to misinformation as the clients do not have a platform to give feedback to the clinic staff.
• Lastly, I learnt more about how to approach people to interview them. There were clients who were on their phones, possibly typing out an urgent email and there were others who were talking to their friends. Besides that, our group of 3 members could only interview 1-2 people at a time as there would be one scribe and one interviewer. As the clients were also primarily there for their check up, it was tough to decide who to approach first as they all seemed busy. Also, we did not want to disrespect their privacy at the clinic. Hence, we observed the clinic procedure to be more aware of the order of the tests. This allowed us to interview the clients during the small gaps between their tests.

2 interesting aspects of my learning

• After every interview session, my group would edit our questions at the end of the day to ensure that we delved deeper into the topic of aviation personnel’s health perceptions. This is so that we are able to receive more information from our interviewees, such as reasons for their dissatisfaction towards certain areas at the clinic and what exactly mental health means to them. This process of continuously improving led us to gather more content for our analysis. At the end of the programme, we felt accomplished.
• I was able to appreciate how the staff of Changi Aviation Medicine Centre work together to carry out their task, which was to ensure that the aviation personnel are able to go for their medical assessment efficiently and smoothly every day.

1 takeaway for life

them during their job. For example, a pilot with symptoms of asthma is at risk of hypoxia, a condition where your body doesn't receive enough oxygen. This is just one of the many health risks that pilots face on the job. Hence, it is the DME’s responsibility to alert the board. Therefore, DMEs work consistently every day to ensure that pilots are fit to fly.