Interview with Kosaka Best of Meeting Award Winner: Ming Ann Sing, MBBS

Kosaka Best of Meeting Award Winner – Clinical Research:
Ming Ann Sims, MBBS, National University Hospital Singapore

Abstract Title: “Sustaining the Gains – A 6 Year Follow through of the Impact of a Hospital Wide Patient Safety Strategy on Global and Anesthetic Patient Safety Outcomes”

What is your professional title and institution? How long have you been there?

Year 2 Anesthesiology resident in the National University Hospital of Singapore, I have been working for 3 years in this hospital.

Why is the IARS Annual Meeting valuable to you?

The IARS meeting provides a global platform for researchers and anesthesiologists from all over the world to incubate ideas, and explore cutting-edge advancements across their fields. It allows for the collaborative discussion, providing new ideas and frontiers to be explored.

How does this annual meeting set itself apart from other annual meetings that you attend?

The annual meeting is unique in having a stellar program with strong emphasis on cutting-edge research, advancements, and emerging ideas in the various fields of anesthesia. This exists in addition to the updates and clinical application aspects, which are also found in other conferences. It allows for the integration of ideas and cutting-edge advancements across many nations, and subspecialities of anesthesia.

Tell me a little about the research you received the Kosaka Best of Meeting award for. What is the goal of your research? Will your findings/research directly impact patient care?

We explored the impact of a 6-year patient safety strategy on hospital and anesthesia patient safety outcomes. We found an improvement in patient safety outcomes and patient safety culture hospital wide and within anesthesia as well, demonstrating sustainability of these efforts over the past 6 years. This provides an example of a sustainable model of patient safety, and provides positive feedback within our organisation to shape future directions of ongoing patient safety efforts aimed at reducing preventable harm over the next decade.

What is the value of research awards like the Kosaka Best of Meeting award?

We are very thankful to the society for giving us the opportunity to present our research as well as awarding us this prestigious award. The last time a member of our institution had received an award during the IARS meeting was more than 20 years ago! This definitely provides us with additional support and encouragement to further pursue our research with the aims of improving patient care and patient safety in the long term.

What are some of your struggles and pain points that you face on a regular basis in conducting research?

Securing research funding is challenging within our field as our national grants are typically pitched against disciplines such as cardiology and oncology, which remain very much a national healthcare focus within our country. The IARS awards and grants certainly provide invaluable support in this specific area.

Anything else you’d like to add?

We are incredibly thankful to the societies for giving us the opportunity to present our research at the IARS/AUA/SOCCA meeting as well as for the award. We hope to be able to attend the upcoming meetings in the future, to participate in the incubation of ideas across nations, across all subspecialties of anesthesia.