Congratulations to Staff Nurse Gary Ko for clinching the Nurses’ Merit Award 2022!
A doctor-turned-nurse, Gary Ko has proven that he can make a difference through perseverance in his mid-career switch! As a recognition of his achievements, Gary was accorded the MOH Nurses’ Merit Award in the annual ceremony on 6 July 2022.
In 2010, Gary gave up his career as a urologist to join his wife in Singapore. When he first arrived in Singapore, he worked as a phlebotomist in a healthcare institution before joining a local laboratory as a researcher. In 2016, looming with a deep sense to find meaning in his work, Gary decided to make a career switch. However, restarting the entire medical studies for local accreditation seems too daunting. Then, he chanced upon the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Registered Nurses, which opened a new path for him.
Gary sees nursing as a calling, it is a “privilege” entrusted unto him to be able to care for patients as a nurse. He believes that “each individual is unique and customised care should be administered accordingly to every patient’s condition”.
The MOH Nurses’ Merit Award recognises nurses who have displayed noteworthy and exceptional performance, participated in professional development, and contributed to raising the nursing profession.
