25-year-old Danielle Yap is taking an unconventional route to becoming a doctor.
Her admiration for doctors started young, as she accompanied her parents to numerous hospital appointments and check-ups because of her brother’s illness.
Yap’s younger brother was born with a rare medical condition known as Fallot’s Tetralogy, a combination of four congenital heart defects, and had to go under the knife for a valve replacement as a kid.
After graduating from polytechnic, Yap worked at a pharmaceutical company to save up for school. That’s when she crossed paths with more medical professionals who inspired her to work towards medical school.
Relevant and industry-ready curriculum
Unlike the typical pre-graduate route that many doctors in Singapore had taken, the Pharmaceutical Science diploma holder chose to further her studies at PSB Academy in 2017 for the Bachelor of Science (Molecular Biology and Pharmaceutical Science) degree offered by La Trobe University.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, La Trobe University is among the top 250 universities globally.
Yap characterised her learning experience as “really fun”, even though she struggled with Chemistry classes. The curriculum was well-balanced, with “a good mix of lab work, tutorials and regular lectures”, she shared with Mothership.
Yap and her two closest friends in PSB Academy, Maga and Jia En.
In particular, she enjoyed the flexibility of the projects they worked on, which sometimes extended beyond the scope of pure science.
“They also focus on very practical aspects of what you may encounter at work, like science communication,” she said.
She recounted her final-year project: to present a mock clinical trial and also produce marketing materials for a certain drug.
Despite the unassuming nature of the assignment, she loved the freedom and creativity awarded to students going into the project.
“I created a small stop motion animation for my lecturer, and I also designed and printed out fake brochures – and all of it was accepted as part of my final year project,” said Yap.
“Hard science can be quite inaccessible to the public, and it’s really cool that the university values the patient’s perspective, and encourages us to work on materials that are relevant to the real world,” she noted.
Supportive staff members from PSB Academy
She was also taken by the accommodating and supportive PSB Academy staff, especially when her world turned “upside-down” halfway through her degree.
When she was in her final year of her studies, Yap’s father was met with a traffic accident while he was on a motorcycle.
After the accident, Yap had to ferry her wheelchair-bound father to and fro for medical appointments while juggling with school work in order to not have to delay her graduation.
She was grateful to her lecturers, especially Dr Seah Seng Wee and Dr Alexis Chon, who were understanding of her situation and kind enough to offer to help her with any questions she might have when she missed lessons.
“I felt like they really cared for me as a person and not just another student they will only see for a few months,” she described.
“Something I really appreciate about PSB Academy is that they know why you're here – to get a degree. And they're interested in helping you get the degree to proceed in your journey,” she added.
Danielle Yap with Dr Alexis Chon and Dr Seah Seng Wee.
Working as a medical device specialist
Her father’s misfortune made Yap abandon her plans to enter a medical school for a while as she had to get back to work to help support her family.
Prior to that, her father was the breadwinner of the family.
Yap, who was looking to complete her degree as fast as possible, was able to shorten her studies to just one and a half years at PSB Academy, thanks to a relevant polytechnic diploma.
This means that Yap didn’t need to take classes that she had taken during polytechnic days, which saved her time and tuition fees.
A month after her final exam at PSB Academy, Yap landed a job as a medical device specialist in a medical device company.
At work, Yap introduces novel medical devices to professionals at various healthcare institutions, troubleshooting any issues they might face, and takes in feedback to make improvements to the devices.
She also enjoys drawing, and provided several pro-bono medical illustrations that were used in international medical conferences.
On pursuing her dream
While life had thrown Yap a curveball, she eventually got back on track to pursue her dream thanks to a mentor she met at work.
“Do something you truly believe in,” the surgeon advised her not to give up on her dream.
This prompted Yap to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) last year.
She shared that she was surprised to find that much of her knowledge she gained from PSB Academy is still relevant.
“A lot of things looked very familiar – and I realised oh, I've actually learned this in university.”
“That’s kind of proof that it is a good degree,” she added.
Yap scored top 12 per cent globally on the MCAT, and is currently awaiting her application results for medical school.
Once known as Singapore’s Productivity and Standards Board, PSB Academy is known today as “The Future Academy”, with an approach to education that focuses on what really matters: performance in the New Economy.
PSB Academy has hosted over 13,000 students from over 50 nationalities with their slate of certificate, diploma, degree and short courses.
In addition to its Life Sciences courses, PSB Academy also offers a wide range of studies in disciplines such as Hospitality, IT, Business, Sport Sciences, as well as Media and Communications, open for full-time and part-time students.
Quotes edited for clarity.
This article is sponsored by PSB Academy.