FAIMER Fellow Christina Tan Awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners

Christina Tan, M.B.B.S., M.R.C.G.P. (U.K.), F.R.C.G.P. (U.K.)
Associate Professor
Head, Department of Primary Care Medicine
Universiti Malaya
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

On November 17, 2006, FAIMER Institute alumna Christina Tan, M.B.B.S., M.R.C.G.P. (U.K.), F.R.C.G.P. (U.K.) was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners (F.R.C.G.P.) by the Royal College of General Practitioners in the United Kingdom. Christina is a Fellow from the 2005 Institute class. The F.R.C.G.P., the highest grade of membership in the College, is widely respected and valued, and represents an important honor for the member involved. The College has nearly 25,000 members, of which one in eight are Fellows.

In his speech at the awards ceremony, Professor Roger Neighbour, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, described some of the key criteria used when awarding Fellowship: "A Fellow is someone who has made a contribution to patient care, to the College or to the discipline of general practice significantly over and above what might reasonably be expected of any Member of the College. In this sense, Fellowship signifies that the Fellow has brought ‘added value’ to his or her career. Fellowship can be merited both by the breadth and the depth of achievement. Some Fellows earn recognition for contributions made in a number of areas and over extended periods of time. For others, Fellowship is an accolade marking outstanding and far-reaching achievement in a relatively narrow field. A Fellow of the College exemplifies its motto ‘Cum Scientia Caritas,’ and is an ambassador for the College’s standards and values in whom the College is happy to signal its pride."

[The Latin motto, "Cum Scientia Caritas" means "Compassion with wisdom (or science)."]

When asked about her FRCGP award and its significance in her career as a physician, Christina shared the following reflections:

When I graduated from the Royal London Hospital Medical College, I did not think I would take up a career in general practice (also called family medicine or primary care medicine). At the time, I was an aspiring obstetrician and gynaecologist, and worked towards this, taking up training jobs in the United Kingdom in Obs & Gynae, general and neonatal paediatrics, and even a six-month spell in a genitourinary medicine clinic. Then it occurred to me that when I reached the age of 50, I did not want to still be getting out of bed in the middle of the night to perform C-sections to deliver babies. However, as a compromise, since I still loved Obs & Gynae, I thought my next best option would be general practice. So I changed tracks at that time, and have never looked back since.

For ten years I worked in the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. This included four years as a partner in an inner city general practice in southwest London. I finally decided to come home to Malaysia in 1995, mainly for family reasons, but also because I had an opportunity to join the University of Malaya as a young lecturer in a very young department of Primary Care Medicine. I have now been at the university for the last 12 years and, during this time, have been very involved in teaching undergraduates and delivering vocational training for Family Medicine. The University Malaya Medical Centre (where I am based) and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Malaya jointly obtained the ISO 9001:2000 certification for quality in 2002. This is a management tool for ensuring compliance with internationally recognised standards of delivery of two major products, teaching and health care. Our department has worked hard towards the development of high standards of communication and inter-professional team work in order to provide an excellent environment for both under- and postgraduate training.

So, for me, this Fellowship award is synonymous to having one of the greatest compliments your peers can pay you, by saying how much they admire you. I hope I have fulfilled the criteria for Fellowship in making a significant contribution to the health and welfare of the community, the science or practice of medicine, and the aims of the College which directly or indirectly benefit general practice.

As a medical educator, my primary aim has been to raise the standards of patient-centred holistic care by being involved in undergraduate M.B.B.S. (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery) and postgraduate (Masters of Family Medicine) education. I have contributed to the M.B.B.S. programme by helping to introduce and develop teaching in problem-based learning, communication skills, behavioural sciences, and medical ethics. In the postgraduate programme, I have been involved in further training in these holistic skills and preparing trainees with a sound and comprehensive training in Family Medicine. The standard of graduates emerging from these programmes ensures that both regional and national standards are raised.

I have also made a major contribution to the assessment programme at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels by (a) setting and marking written Final M.B.B.S. examination papers and coordinating the Final M.B.B.S. Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) twice a year (OSCE is also used in the Masters of Family Medicine examinations), and (b) working with two other public universities in Malaysia to develop and assess a four-year programme to train doctors to provide a high standard of service in primary care services across Malaysia.

In an age of constantly developing technologies and advances in medicine, the demands made on the clinician to provide higher standards of care are greater. As Professor Roger Neighbour said at the FRCGP awards ceremony, "General practice or family medicine has regained its pride, and is increasingly where the best doctors choose to have their careers. Today's family physicians include the kindest, and the cleverest, and the most up-to-date, and the most creative members of the medical profession." Having the knowledge and skills is one thing, but to be able to impart it to others and teach them how to be good doctors is even more rewarding, and a challenge to any medical educator.

In the next two to three years, I see myself first and foremost as a doctor, and secondly as a medical educator. My focus of attention had been on two areas, namely, Primary Care Medicine (or Family Medicine) and Medical Education, which have some overlap as there are many things common to both. There is still a lot to do in building up the discipline of Primary Care Medicine and ensuring that the future needs of the country are met in terms of Family Medicine Specialists working in the government health clinics and providing the first line of care. This in turn is dependent on encouraging medical undergraduates to enter the discipline following graduation, so equal care and attention needs to be paid to the undergraduate curriculum.

Christina had this to say about her FAIMER Fellowship:

Being a FAIMER Fellow and having the opportunity to meet fellow medical educators in other countries around the world has been a very enriching experience, and it would be rewarding to share all that I have learned at FAIMER with others. Our university has, in principle, agreed to the setting up of a medical education unit but this has yet to be implemented. I hope to assist in the running of such a unit, and to continue to be active in medical education not only at a local level, but also at national and international levels.

Becoming a FAIMER Fellow has had a more profound impact on me than I could ever possibly have imagined, and I hope I have "grown" not only in terms of learning more about medical education, but also on a personal and professional level. The management tools have been invaluable, and are put into practice every working day. The support provided by the FAIMER "family," who although scattered far and wide across the world are all just an internet click away, has been wonderful, as we can share our experiences, frustrations, and successes.

I feel very fortunate and privileged to be part of this extraordinary community.