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Dr Sheila Vasoo - Singapore

II am an associate consultant in the department of Medicine/ Rheumatology in a University Hospital in Singapore. We have 2 main rheumatology centres in Singapore serving a population of 4 million. Rheumatologists are a scarce commodity in my country numbering at about 20 in total! It is a fairly young specialty that was developed by Professor Feng Pao Hsii in the mid 80s.

Much of what we know in rheumatology stems from research and work done in the West and a lot of it certainly comes from the Lupus Research Unit at the Rayne Institute. I am pleased to say that there is currently a large clinico-epidemiological study on lupus ongoing in my country to better define our patients and their outcomes as well!

Although lupus patients present differently in the East where they tend to have more kidney and brain involvement, the effect of this disease on the wellbeing of a patient knows no physical barriers and I believe it affects one and all the same. This is where organizations such as the St Thomas’ Lupus Trust and even smaller support groups like the one from Singapore, play such vital roles. We have a small support group known as the Lupus Association which provides information, counselling and occasionally financial support to some of our needy patients but certainly not in the scale that I see in the UK.

One large difference that I notice here is that patients are aware of disease and often work closely with their physicians. Unfortunately, the cultural mindset back home often encourages patients to seek alternative therapies in particular traditional medicines. This is something rheumatologists in Singapore have to grapple with and patient education programmes are vital.

I am privileged to have this opportunity to work under a team of renowned rheumatologists from St Thomas’ Hospital for this brief 6 months. The experienced gained will certainly help me serve my patients better.

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