The doctor-pilot who never stops learning
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At 3,000 feet above ground, the cockpit demands absolute focus. Every movement is deliberate. Every checklist matters.
For Clin Asst Prof Shanaz Matthew Sajeed, that same discipline guides him in the Intensive Care Unit at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH), where calm decisions can mean the difference between life and death.
A dream that took flight
As a child, he aspired to be a pilot. The dream never quite left him, it steered him towards another high-stakes calling: medicine.
While training as an emergency physician in 2012, he earned his private pilot’s licence, reflecting his drive to pursue mastery beyond his primary field. “Flying keeps me grounded,” he said.
The steadiness required in flight mirrors the composure he brings to medicine. In 2014, two years after qualifying as an emergency physician, he chose to specialise in intensive care medicine, building dual expertise in emergency and critical care.
His twin interests converge in one mission: resuscitation
As Chair of NTFGH’s Life Support Committee, Clin Asst Prof Shanaz sought to strengthen how the hospital manages deteriorating patients and cardiac arrests.
Although the hospital met national benchmarks, he believed outcomes could be improved.
“We wanted to go beyond national standards,” he said.
He introduced High Performance CPR, an enhanced resuscitation protocol that emphasises real-time measurement of compression quality and minimising interruptions to blood flow.
New-generation defibrillators provide immediate feedback on compression depth and rate, allowing clinicians to adjust during resuscitation.
“The quality of CPR is key,” he explained. “Every time you stop compressions, blood flow to the brain drops. The aim is to keep that flow as continuous as possible.”
After piloting the programme hospital-wide, internal before-and-after analyses indicated improved rates of return of spontaneous circulation. He stressed that survival depends on the full chain of care. “Resuscitation is one link in the chain. What happens before and after also matters.”
Rolling out the programme required buy-in across intensive care, emergency medicine, nursing and senior management — an effort made more manageable by the hospital’s single, combined ICU structure.
“I think there’s inertia rather than resistance,” he said, noting that meaningful change takes time and alignment.
“But we should always question the status quo,” he said. “I often ask myself: is there anything we can do better? That has always driven my desire for continuous improvement.”
A restless pursuit of better
For Clin Asst Prof Shanaz, introducing High Performance CPR was not just about adopting a new protocol, but about cultivating a mindset.
“I’m always finding areas for improvement and working to close those gaps. That drives much of what I do and why I do it,” he said.
He described this philosophy as kaizen — the Japanese principle of continuous improvement. “If we adopt this kaizen mentality at work, we will see that our employees are happy and our patients’ outcomes will be better.”
“We should always question the status quo — that drives the desire for continuous improvement.”
– Clin Asst Prof Shanaz
Building safer teams
Clin Asst Prof Shanaz also draws lessons from aviation safety.
“Many early aviation disasters happened because of a strict hierarchy, with a significant power distance between pilot and co-pilot — so first officers felt they couldn’t speak up,” he said.
“In both aviation and medicine, safety depends on every team member feeling confident to raise concerns. Creating a culture of openness and trust is essential to delivering safe, high-quality care.”
At NTFGH, he helps to run a crisis resource management course that adapts aviation principles to healthcare, focusing on leadership, communication and teamwork.
In a training session, he moves among doctors and nurses as they run through simulated scenarios. Each member knows their role. Communication is clear and focused.
The coordination is precise, much like a flight crew responding to an emergency drill.
The next climb
For Clin Asst Prof Shanaz, improvement does not end at the hospital doors.
In August 2025, he completed a Master of Business Administration at the National University of Singapore not as a departure from medicine, but as an expansion of perspective. “It was not related to medicine at all,” he said. “It was just about expanding my horizons.”
The programme reinforced the value of cross-disciplinary thinking, an approach he already applies from cockpit to ward. Both aviation and medicine, he noted, demand calm under pressure, rigorous preparation and coordinated teamwork.
Between his dual roles in intensive care and emergency medicine, his work in resuscitation and leadership, his studies and family life, his plate is full yet his momentum shows no sign of slowing.
“I always ask, 'What’s the next mountain to climb?' Whether in the cockpit or the ICU, my compass remains the same: a desire to serve, learn, innovate and elevate those around me.”
– Clin Asst Prof Shanaz
In consultation with Clin Asst Prof Shanaz Matthew Sajeed, Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, and Senior Consultant, Department of Emergency Medicine, NTFGH.
