Healthcare scholarship recipient drawn to healthcare career after childhood experience in Nepal

SINGAPORE – At the age of nine, Mr Jedidiah Jivon Sebastian, together with his two younger brothers, was already volunteering at medical camps in Nepal, where his family had moved to from Singapore when he was five.

When doctors prescribed medication, he would help pick out the drugs and pack them in plastic bags for the patients, who were mostly from villages in rural Nepal.

“To me, it was sort of like a game. It was only much later that I think I started to realise actually the significance of all these projects,” said Mr Sebastian, who did not say why his family had moved to Nepal.

He recalled acting as a dental assistant at 16, holding a torchlight and handling a tray as a dentist tried extracting the roots of a tooth which had broken off in the mouth of an elderly patient.

Such experiences helped him realise how privileged he was, and inspired him to continue his journey in the healthcare sector, said Mr Sebastian.

After completing his A-level studies at an international school in Kathmandu, he returned to Singapore with his family in 2020 to fulfil his national service obligation. Mr Sebastian is now in the second year of his Bachelor of Pharmacy course at the National University of Singapore (NUS). 

On Friday, he received the Healthcare Merit Award for Pharmacy at the Healthcare Scholarships Award Ceremony, held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

This year, 161 scholarships were awarded by MOH Holdings – the holding company of Singapore’s public healthcare clusters – for tertiary studies in 13 health science and healthcare-related disciplines, such as nursing and allied health.

This is up from the 120 scholarships awarded in 2022.

Mr Sebastian – who continues to volunteer by giving tuition to primary schoolchildren from underprivileged families here – said he was very grateful to have received the scholarship.

Beyond getting financial support for his studies, it has opened to him other opportunities, including networking with others, he said.

A three-day experiential learning journey at the Singapore General Hospital in the first year at NUS helped open his eyes to what being a pharmacist would entail, he said.

While pharmacists are commonly perceived as just being people who give out medicine prescribed to patients, Mr Sebastian said the role involves a fair amount of patient care.

This includes explaining to patients how medication can help treat their condition, and communicating with doctors should the pharmacist find that a prescription needs to be changed.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who attended the event, described the public healthcare sector as a big ecosystem requiring diverse talents.

The next few years are a critical period for the transformation of Singapore’s healthcare sector, he said, pointing to the Republic’s move towards preventive care under the Healthier SG as an example of the transformation.

“You are coming into healthcare at a very exciting time,” he told the scholarship recipients.