June Goh-Rin About The Storms She Has Weathered And Lessons Learnt

Throughout the challenges of the last two years, June Goh-Rin did not lose an ounce of optimism. She tells Annabel Tan about the storms she has weathered, lessons learnt, as well as the wisdom she is taking into this brand new year.

- Annabel Tan

In contrast to the glamorous side of Dr June Goh-Rin that most people see, the version of her that I meet on a late Thursday afternoon has just come from a long shift at the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Singapore General Hospital (SGH). Donning her scrubs with her face bearing creases from wearing an N95 mask all day, June somehow still manages to look radiant and is perky throughout our chat.

I later learn that hers is a strong, positive energy that emanates from within. Just by counting the many hats she wears, it is clear that it takes someone as resilient, driven and passionate as June to do it all. As a senior consultant and director of Neuroanaesthesia and Neurocritical Care at the largest hospital in Singapore, she typically spends one of every five weeks at the NICU, and the rest of the time in the operating theatre. She is a mother of two and also juggles teaching at Duke-NUS Medical School, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

On top of work and family commitments, she devotes a lot of her time to volunteer work, various community causes and passions. June is the immediate past president at Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), where she has also served as president, second and first vice-presidents in her earlier terms. She is also immediate past president of the Asean Confederation of Women’s Organisations (ACWO), and sits on the boards of the Association of Women Doctors (Singapore) (AWDS) and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. In addition, she chairs the transplant oversight committee in SGH and serves as the director of philanthropy in the SingHealth Anaesthesia Academic Clinical Programme.