Dr Mei San Tang

Course: Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), 2013
Nationality: Malaysian
Current role: Clinical Pathology Resident Physician, Barnes-Jewish Hospital (USA)

Please tell us about your role in your current organisation.

I am a Clinical Pathology resident physician. Clinical pathologists are physicians who specialise in lab medicine. Our major responsibilities include validating clinical laboratory methods to provide meaningful results that can help guide patient management, managing utilisation of laboratory assays in the hospital and providing consultation to other clinicians who need help with choosing the appropriate diagnostic methods for their patients.

How have your studies at Monash helped to prepare you for the working world?

The problem-based learning format required me to perform research on a topic and report my findings in a presentation format to my peers. This weekly requirement provided me with opportunities to hone my presentation skills early on. We also had patient interaction and clinical skills classes starting from the first year of medical school; therefore, I was required to develop my communication skills at the beginning of my training.

Did you participate in any student activities or opportunities?

I presented at a national conference and participated in a national physiology quiz as part of a team that included several of my classmates. We also had clinical rotations with healthcare clinics in rural Segamat and suburban Melbourne, Australia.

Did you go for any internships or work placements?

I did a research elective with an immunology research lab at New York University School of Medicine in my final year of medical school. I subsequently returned to this lab as a postdoctoral research fellow after graduating from Monash.

What did you enjoy most about your student life?

I enjoyed the diversity of expertise, not only in my field of study but also in other areas. I had the opportunity to attend seminars in arts and social sciences as well. The elective rotation in my final year also provided me with an opportunity to explore other areas of medicine that were of interest to me.

What is your career goal?

I will be doing a one-year Transfusion Medicine fellowship at Stanford University starting July 2021. I hope to be a Transfusion Medicine attending physician after my fellowship.