This award is presented to Pharmacists who promote excellence in hospital pharmacy practice, and are leaders and role models in the profession.

This year, the award goes to Dr Jonathan Seah, a highly experienced hospital pharmacist, who has been in the pharmacy field for the past 14 years. He is a knowledgeable clinical pharmacist who has completed his Pharm. D in NUS and is a Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS). He has a keen interest in Infectious Diseases (ID), HIV infection, and Drug information and Toxicology.

In the early years of his career:

After completing his pre-registration training, Jonathan took charge of the Drug Information (DI) Service at Changi General Hospital (CGH). In this role, he had the opportunity to be involved in the national Drug information and Poisoning Centre, where he interacted and learnt from many fellow DI pharmacists from other hospitals. This was also the time when there was an increasing focus placed on patient safety in Singapore, and Jonathan was involved in institutional and national medication safety intiatives including setting up the hospital medication error reporting system/process, conducting medication safety analysis and error reduction projects, and providing educational talks at conferences.

A good part of his work was also in the CGH Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) committee, reviewing drugs for formulary listing and producing medication use guidelines. He was also involved in drafting policies in multidisciplinary groups, especially in preparation for the Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation survey. Jonathan also played a key role in in conducting research and running pharmacist-led clinics including Wound Care, Heart Failure and Total Parenteral Nutrition. All these varied activities provided him with a good exposure to appreciate the 'big' picture and to work well with our other healthcare colleagues. 

Jonathan was also a core team member in the drafting of the MOH guidelines for Management of Poisoning and Overdose, and establishing the Toxicological Society of Singapore.

Passion in clinical pharmacy:

In 2009, Jonathan enrolled in the inaugural Pharm.D. class at NUS. He was rotated to different hospitals in Singapore and Overseas. This sparked his interest to spearhead the antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) at his workplace. He is currently extensively involved in the hospital’s ASP, where he works closely with the microbiologists and ID physicians. He is also involved in drafting up antimicrobial guidelines and clinical decision support tools to facilitate appropriate antibiotic use. In addition, he also assists with managing antiretroviral therapy for HIV patients both in the inpatient and outpatient setting. Recently, his passion in ID fuelled him to undertake a year-long PGY2 ID pharmacy residency at Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York.

Mentorship and grooming of future clinical pharmacists

Jonathan believes in developing the future generation, and has been enthusiastic in mentoring young pharmacists and budding clinical pharmacists. He enjoys being a preceptor for polytechnic students, NUS pharmacy students and pre-registration pharmacists. He also takes the time to be a clinical tutor to NUS Pharm. D students on rotation. He is a patient teacher and many students have greatly benefitted from his training.

Valuable member of PSS

Putting his clinical knowledge to good practice, Jonathan has been a major contributor to the scientific programme of the annual Singapore Pharmacy Congress organised by PSS, by being part of the scientific committee. He plays an important role in identifying clinical updates and novel practices to be featured at the congress.

Dr Jonathan Seah is a role model in clinical pharmacy practice and has contributed greatly to the progression of the profession. PSS is honoured to award Jonathan for his achievements, and may the award motivate him to achieve greater heights in his career.