Jointly reported by:
Goh Yu Xin Sr1ScD
Ng Sze Yun Sr2A
On 20th July 2022, Kuen Cheng High School hosted several talks regarding different careers, one of them being forensic pathologists. We were honoured to have Dr Tan Ran Zhi, Deputy Director of Sungai Buloh Hospital’s Forensic Department give a Talk. Dr Tan started off with a brief self-introduction and introduced the prospects of pursuing this career.
Being a forensic pathologist requires years of studying, starting with medical studies, and then moving on to forensic pathology. Our country still needs many forensic pathologists, seeing as there are only approximately forty of them in Malaysia. Their monthly salary is equivalent to what a specialist received monthly at our Ministry of Health.
The students
During the pandemic, Dr Tan focused his work on the dissecting of bodies infected by COVID-19. There is a protective gear that forensic pathologists wear that is specifically designed to keep them safe from the virus.
After introducing the working life of a forensic pathologist, Dr Tan presented some photos of the crime scene investigations he participated in during his career. Cases shared were mostly accidents like falling from height and drowning. Based on the cases presented, he also mentioned that accidents always happen unexpectedly.
Following up, Dr Tan explained the challenges he faced as a forensic pathologist. He stated that forensic pathologists always have to be ready as they may need to handle emergency cases anytime. Besides that, Dr Tan shared his experience of having been conferred by the Selangor Sultan for being a front-liner during the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasized that he was delighted that society has started to recognize the hard work of forensic pathologists.
Later, a Q & A session was held. Students asked about ways to maintain work-life balance, exciting parts of the career and others. Based on the question asked, Dr Tan shared about his most memorable case in which he had once dissected a long-lost friend of his and he mentioned that he felt shocked when he found out the person was his friend present at the moment. After the short Q & A session, a group photo was taken by the school teacher and the event came to a close.