Professor Dr Yook-Chin Chia (Malaysia)

• What is your role at your work?

Academician, teacher, clinician, researcher and mentor.

• How did you get interested in your career path?

I was invited to join the then new and first academic Department of Primary Care Medicine in Malaysia at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

• What are you most proud of in your career or otherwise?

Building up the first Department of Primary Care Medicine in Malaysia since its inception in 1987.

I started the first 4 year postgraduate training programme in Family Medicine in Malaysia in 1989.

• What important career challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them?

I initially received lots of resistance and antagonism from fellow academics and clinicians of established specialities/disciplines.

1. Set up many discussions with individual heads of department and key opinion specialists (done privately and personally)
2. Collected and presented data to show the heavy workload my department carried out at our very busy outpatient clinics
3. Co-operated and took on tasks assigned to us readily and without complaining to show my department was co-operative and willing to do our share if not more than our share of teaching the undergraduate curriculum
4. Focussed on our strengths which was on communication skills (very lacking at that time)
5. Initiated and involved myself in many research projects to again demonstrate that we can do it
6. Involved myself in providing many lectures at CME for doctors. This helped advertise the existence of my department.

• What advice would you give your younger self? Work very hard, build a network, do not complain, just do it. Be sincere, honest and have integrity. Do not do things just to further yourself. Do it for the discipline.
  

• Highlight your most significant research contributions and publications (3-5) – if relevant to you.

Validation of CVD risk score for use in Malaysia. My publications are cited by our national Guidelines committee for CVD.

• Yook Chin Chia, Sarah Yu Weng Gray, Siew Mooi Ching, Hooi Min Lim, Karuthan Chinna Validation of the Framingham general cardiovascular risk score in a multiethnic Asian population: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open 2015;5:e007324. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007324
• Chia  Yook Chin, Lim  Hooi Min, Ching  Siew Mooi, Validation of the pooled cohort risk score in an Asian population – a retrospective cohort study   BMC Cardiovascular Disorders.2014, 14:163

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2261-14-163

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2261/14/163

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/5/e007324.full.pdf

• Chia YC, Lim HM, Ching SM (2015) Use of Chronic Kidney Disease to Enhance Prediction of Cardiovascular Risk in Those at Medium Risk. PLoS ONE 10(10):e0141344. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141344k

• Have you had any significant career mentors? If yes, please provide further details.

Professor Khean Lee Goh and Professor Anuar Zaini.

• How can we support the next generation of women scientists?
  
  1. Women in positions of influence should mentor other women. My own mentors are men
  2. Involve women in all our academic, research and CME activities to lift their profile
  3. Give them the opportunity to lead even if we ourselves are in the team/group/activity
  4. Point out to them any opportunities that are available