Ms Ho was only in her early 20s when she first started as a medical social worker for HIV patients. Through her sincere concern and compassion, Ms Ho has been able to gain the confidence of her patients and provide them with emotional support to help them cope with their medical condition and problems. Ms Ho perseveres with her patients as she counsels them and journeys with them from the stage of diagnosis, to illness to death. She refuses to give up easily on any patient.

One patient had refused medical treatment out of stubbornness and fear. Ms Ho made countless home visits to counsel him. He eventually relented. Although the patient has now passed away, Ms Ho remains a pillar of strength and a friend to the family till today.

" I don't think of what I do as going the extra mile. I see it as my duty to care for my patients. Some patients need more help than others, and I believe they have their good reasons."

As a professional medical social worker, I am often faced with questions on what is it that I actually do as a MSW. My colleagues will confirm that it is a common misleading notion for other professionals and laypersons to perceive the roles of MSWs as just advocates for financial resources, concrete aid and expediting patient discharges. While these roles hold true, we are also involved in many aspects of health care provision. Being part of the multi-disciplinary team, we perform social assessments upon a patient's admission to the ward to fully evaluate the patient's social, psychological and environmental conditions and assist him to cope with problems he cannot cope alone.

Providing family psycho-education is another aspect of our work, educating families on the etiology and symptoms on the patient's illness and imparting problem solving techniques to families, helping to generate effective solutions to problems.

We also actively liaise and network with external agencies to obtain the necessary and relevant resources to assist the patient and family effectively. For problems and issues that cannot be adequately resolved in an office setting. home visits are a must for MSWs to further assess family situations.

Our work being often intangible and not easily demonstrated, one must possess the basic qualities of compassion, sensitivity and a sustained real interest in the clients we serve. In my 11 years of service, my patients have taught me how to listen, to care and be flexible in my approach when dealing with them. That is the real reason why I am still an MSW up to this day.