Intern Stephanie Lim shares her experiences working with Robotic Process Automation at the NHG CIO Office.
3 words to describe IHiS
Collaborative, Energetic, Encouraging
How did you clinch the internship/ job?
I did my research on IHiS to understand their role in public healthcare, what they do and the different projects that they have done to prepare for my interview.
What is your current role and job scope? What's a typical work day like for you?
My current role involves developing automation capabilities in Yishun Health using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions to automate various business processes. Depending on the use case, different departments will have different processes they want to automate.
My job scope involves designing and updating microsites to organise information and knowledge for sharing with the wider organisation, as well as supporting requirements analysis and assisting with research and mock-up of automation use cases. I currently work on our web portal to provide information on RPA and help users get onboard with our RPA solutions. I also help other teams automate their processes using Excel VBA, a programming language for Excel that can be used to automate specific computer processes and calculations.
What got you interested in HealthTech sector?
In one of my University classes, the lecturer talked about using IT in the healthcare sector. This class expanded my knowledge on how IT can help in the healthcare industry and made me interested in how much more IT can do to improve people's lives. Since then I have been reading articles on technologies used in healthcare and they have never failed to amaze me.
Why did you join IHiS?
After researching more on IHiS, I felt that their core values align with my beliefs in having a good working environment, helping one another, and having fun at work.
In addition, I was interested in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Therefore, when I discovered IHiS' role in developing digital automation, I took the opportunity to apply for an internship here.
What is a memorable moment you encountered/experienced on-the-job?
Being a new joiner, it can be quite intimidating to ask for help as everyone seems to be very busy. However, there will always be situations where you need help from the team. There were times where my code just does not work the way it should due to restrictions in the environment. Upon asking for help from my team, they were quick and eager to help me solve the issue. In addition, my team is always eager to guide me and their friendliness has made a memorable impact on my internship journey.
How did you overcome any challenges?
One of the challenges I have faced is when I did not meet the user's expectation. We may have had different ideas in mind and when it was time to present a draft of the solution, it did not align with what she wanted. However, the user was encouraging and complimented me on my efforts. With the help of my teammate, we redesigned the project to suit the user's needs. From this experience, I have learned to be more proactive and ask whenever I am unsure of anything instead of assuming things. This has helped me save time spent on fixing things and also ensures the user is satisfied.
Describe the benefits of your project, and how you see it helping the public/Singapore.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that allows organisations to build, deploy and manage software robots to perform specific tasks in an automated way. It is able to mimic most human-computer interactions to carry out a ton of error-free tasks at high volume and speed and automate mundane and repetitive computer-based tasks and processes in the workplace. For example, copy-pasting and moving files from one location to another.
There are many benefits in using RPA such as significant efficiency and cost savings, and improved employee morale as RPA replaces repetitive tasks and reduction of errors in processes. By encouraging departments in the healthcare industry to adopt RPA, it enables employees to focus on more meaningful tasks which can improve overall satisfaction and enhance the delivery of healthcare services.
What traits do you need to perform well in your role?
A willingness to learn! IT is always evolving and the systems that are used today may be obsolete in the future so we need to adapt and learn to use new systems. If we are not willing to learn and are not willing to change, it will also affect the growth of the company.
How has your degree/knowledge learnt in school help them to prepare for the internship?
There were many skills taught in school that were helpful in preparing me for the internship. Technical skills such as web development helped me in building an attractive and functional microsite, coding skills enabled me to build and automate processes much more easily and the various school presentations that I have done gave me the courage and confidence to present in front of users and my reporting officer.
IHiS has rebranded as Synapxe, the national HealthTech agency. Read more about our new identity here.
