Ms Shyamala Narayanaswamy

Ms Shyamala Narayanaswamy
Senior Principal Pharmacist
Pharmacy
Singapore General Hospital

Shyamala Nara is Senior Principal Pharmacist at Singapore General Hospital. Her passion is fostering joy and removing barriers.

She is a trained facilitator (Institute of Poetic Medicine, USA) in using poetry as a tool for wellness—she ran an 8-part series of poetry circles in May-June 2025 for SingHealth staff and the public, as well as a “Poetry Pharmacy” workshop at the Medical Humanities Conference (Oct 2025). 

A programme on poetic medicine titled, “Stories Within”, a collaboration with SingHealth-DukeNUS Medical Humanities Institute and the Institute of Patient Safety and Quality, is offered starting April 2026 to address empathy and burnout in healthcare workers.

Shyam’s other roles include Staff Engagement and Wellness for Pharmacy, and leading Staff Protection efforts and has trained SGH Pharmacy staff on verbal de-escalation skills since 2023. Her team developed a VR simulation-based anti-abuse training programme, which is being rolled out across Pharmacy in SingHealth.