Bridging health care and technology in Singapore
Driven by curiosity and a passion for innovation, Disha Patel’s co-op journey has taken her across the globe to Singapore where she is exploring technology and health care while gaining new insights within her industry.
Disha Patel (she/her) is a third-year Science and Business student with a minor in Computing. Her journey exploring the intersection between science, technology and health care has led to valuable hands-on experience and a fresh global perspective. Co-op has shown her how students can make an impact early in their career.
Disha's co-op journey
Science associate, Science Undergraduate Office
Alongside managing the front desk with general administrative work, Disha's main project was helping with their international medical school partnerships. She organized all the information in a central website and created process documents to support future partnerships.
Research assistant, National University of Singapore - Institute of Systems Science
This term, Disha has been supporting the development of an AI in Health Care course for health-care professionals in Singapore by conducting market research, engaging with external stakeholders and developing course objectives.
Q&A with Disha
What sparked your interest in the intersection of health care and technology?
“I took computer science in high school and I really enjoyed coding. With technology growing at the rate that it is, I knew I needed to understand it so I could truly make a difference within the health-care sector. With being in Science, sometimes those skills aren’t taught in our main courses, so I’ve had to make an extra effort to make sure I am keeping up with those skills.”
“The first hands-on experience I’ve had within health care and technology was participating and becoming a finalist in Velocity’s FemTech Innovation challenge a year ago. My team and I designed and pitched the idea of a therapeutic brassiere that could be used as a remote patient monitoring device to support women recovering from breast cancer treatment. It was an amazing experience where I got to meet so many inspiring female leaders within female technology (FemTech) and see first-hand how technology can shape the future of health care.”
Why did you choose to do a co-op abroad?
“The global experience! Not only do I get to travel, but being in the health industry, that global knowledge of how health-care systems work at an international level is so invaluable. I know that I can take this and apply it to our Canadian health-care system. Especially since finding a role in a sector that I’m really interested in, it gave me the motivation to go ahead with working abroad.”
How does working and living in Singapore compare to Canada?
“There has been a bit of a culture shock in understanding how people work here that took a bit of time getting used to. The workplace culture is definitely different than what I am used to in Canada.”
“Everyone I’ve met has been so kind. The transit system here is amazing, it’s very easy to get around. It’s a very small country, I feel like I will be able to have seen every part of it by the end of the term.”
Did your classroom learning help prepare you for co-op or did you do a lot more learning on the job?
“Being in Science and Business and taking those business workshop courses from first year has helped with things like presenting and how to be professional in the workplace. Those professional skills are something I’ve developed through my program, which I’m super grateful for because it has helped make my integration into the workplace a lot easier.”
“Learning about public health and health-care systems are definitely things I am learning on the job, especially in a global lens. I didn’t know anything about Singapore’s health-care system coming in, especially when comparing their paid health-care services to our free public health.”
What has been the most rewarding thing about co-op?
“I’m super grateful that in both of my experiences, I’ve been able to start something from the ground up, or at least be hands-on in the initial planning of the project. It has allowed me to see where it goes even once I’m done with my co-op term. This term, the course that I am helping develop is completely one of a kind in the team so seeing what the final product will be after all the work I’ve helped with will be really interesting.”
Seeing the impact we, as students, get to create within an organization is really cool and something I'm super grateful for.
What’s next for you?
“I know I want to gain more health-care experience within the Canadian health-care system. I’m hoping to do a more health-oriented work term before I graduate, either in research or health-care operations.”
“Otherwise, I want to keep growing my skills, especially on the business side of things. As a personal goal, I want to read more books.”