A Life Worth Living (Parkway Pantai’s Mosaic)

Singapore spine surgeon Dr Yue Wai Man was interviewed by Mosaic on his career in improving people’s quality of life. Mosaic is a quarterly publication by Parkway Pantai distributed to its staff.

Since Primary 2, Dr Yue had aspired to practice in medicine. He persevered hard since then to eventually enter the medical school of National University of Singapore. From there, he decided to become a surgeon. Taking inspiration from his teacher, Professor Low Cheng Hock who is a general surgeon and does his best to motivate his students.

Upon graduating from medical training, Dr Yue had wanted to go into neurosurgery. However, he had received a rare and prestigious invitation to join the orthopaedics department of a restructured hospital. After much deliberation, he decided to give it a go and requested to specialise in spine surgery. It was an ideal opportunity for him as spine surgery marries both neuroscience and orthopaedics. Coincidentally, the department was also looking for a spine specialist.

To Dr Yue, most of the work as an orthopaedics and spine surgeon looks at improving the patients’ quality of life. It concerns the “happy branch of medicine”. He was particularly interested in minimally invasive spine surgery, which was still a novel concept 10 years ago in Singapore. However, there was much friction and criticism from patients and medical professionals in his journey towards this branch of medicine.

Dr Yue’s conviction in minimally invasive spine surgery did not waver. He believed in the benefits of minimally invasive spine surgery. He recalls this vivid experience with a 70-year-old lady who had done the surgery under him. She was so eager to get out off the bed in the afternoon after surgery since she felt little pain. The experience made him work even harder to prove the benefits of minimally invasive spine surgery.

Amidst his private spine surgeon practice, Dr Yue still dedicates his time to grooming future doctors-to-be. He believes in teaching those who want to be taught, just like how his own teachers have taught him.

Read the full interview with Dr Yue on Mosaic.