a Young Rehab Doctor Aiming for 1% Improvement Each Day
– Dr. Siwakorn Kongtanachart –
A Turning Point When Friends Drifted Apart
Siwakorn attended Satit Kaset School from primary year one. He would describe himself as someone without clear goals or dreams, often feeling awkward when asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The easiest path was to follow his friends, believing subconsciously that if his friends were good, they would lead him down a good path. In a way, he was fortunate that his friends encouraged him to take the entrance exam for Triam Udom Suksa School after Matthayom 3 (Year 9), and he successfully followed them.
But then came a point where life forced him to choose, on matters where others couldn’t decide for him. At that time, choosing between engineering and medicine was a significantly important juncture, as it would determine his future. Getting accepted into both was an advantage in one sense, but a heavy burden for someone who couldn’t choose, or perhaps dared not face the consequences of a wrong decision. He even suffered sleepless nights, unsure of which path to take, until his mother uttered a sentence that helped Siwakorn make up his mind.
“There are only a few professions where you get to work and help people.”
And so, he became a medical student at Vajira Hospital’s Faculty of Medicine. Deep down, upon reflection, he realised that every profession has its unique and indispensable purpose. However, at the very least, this profession might provide him with enough knowledge to care for his family more than other options. But once the choice was made, the next lesson life had for him was to completely remove his old friends from his path.
“All my friends got into other places. That was a turning point in my life because I had never made a decision on my own before. It taught me the lesson that to achieve something, luck alone isn’t enough, and it wouldn’t be fair to those who have genuine determination and put in effort.”
Siwakorn felt truly alone for the first time when he entered university, as he no longer had his old group of friends to follow. During this period, in addition to intense studies, he re-evaluated many life decisions and engaged more with his own feelings. As his living environment and social circle changed, he felt compelled to grow, though it was a growth without much control.
“I had some thoughts that weren’t like those of people my age, which made it difficult to socialise. Some things I felt were very minor, nothing at all, but my friends thought they were very important. Sometimes, I would speak my mind without considering the feelings of the listener. Being young at that time, I solved the problem by reducing interaction with people who didn’t think like me. This gave me the opportunity to listen to my own voice and develop more independent thoughts.”
This process of crystallising his thoughts and moving away from a path of always following others also allowed medical student Siwakorn to see the future he desired. He loved sports, making a specialisation in orthopaedics or rehabilitation medicine suitable. However, he disliked surgery, so his option became singular.
“I’ve played sports since I was a child. I can play everything – tennis, ping pong, basketball. I’ve played basketball for over 10 years. I generally enjoy anything related to sports, so rehabilitation medicine was the closest answer to my interests.”
Continuing his studies in rehabilitation medicine took the doctor out of his comfort zone once again. He moved to Khon Kaen, a province where he knew almost no one. He had to adjust to a new environment and a demanding workload that kept him at the hospital from 8 AM until late evening, as Khon Kaen University Hospital is the medical hub for the entire Northeast region, receiving all severe cases from provincial hospitals.
“In Khon Kaen, I met many professors with unique styles, who were incredibly thorough and dedicated to patient care. I learned so much – experience, knowledge, and soft skills like communication techniques. How to talk to different people, how to deliver bad news without causing too much distress, what should and shouldn’t be said, how to politely refuse. I also got better at observing people and had a new realisation: being alone isn’t the answer, but living well is. Every experience I faced, whether joy or sorrow, was a normal feeling, but could I use it to benefit my life?”
Upon returning to Bangkok, Dr. Siwakorn started working at a hospital. However, constraints related to time, workload, and many other factors prevented him from working happily and being satisfied with his job. Moreover, the problem of having very little time for each patient meant he couldn’t listen or help them as well as he hoped. This led him to seek new options that better suited his approach to patient care, eventually leading him to join BNH Hospital.
“Working here feels like a new beginning. I have to thank the hospital and all the senior doctors for their warm welcome. It’s a welcoming place that makes me want to work well, with a quality of care that I would provide if my own parents were patients. I have time to talk and understand each case, because rehabilitation work isn’t just about blood tests and medication. Each case is unique, with different causes for symptoms. Treating every case the same might not yield the best results. It’s crucial to have time to listen to the patient. Besides work, other aspects are also excellent. At lunchtime, I get to eat with other doctors, make coffee, and chat. I felt welcomed from day one. Everyone is lovely, respectful, and dedicated to patient care. Knowing other doctors positively impacts coordination and good communication in patient care, ensuring patients receive holistic and comprehensive treatment. The other senior doctors also take good care of me, so I can say this job perfectly suits my life.”
Old Muscles, Old Activities VS New Muscles, New Activities
As a rehabilitation medicine specialist, Dr. Siwakorn works closely with patients who have been treated by other departments and require long-term rehabilitation according to BNH Hospital’s integrated, comprehensive care approach: Complete Care. The patients under his care often need continuous rehabilitation. His joy in work comes from seeing patients’ progress, from being almost unable to help themselves to gradually being able to turn over in bed, sit up, move their limbs, walk, speak, and return to functioning as close to normal as possible. Or patients with chronic ailments, like the common office syndrome, which also requires continuous treatment and often involves patients who have tried all forms of treatment without success.
“I will take their history and perform additional examinations to understand why previous treatments haven’t worked. I will ask them about their daily routine, their sitting posture, how many hours they spend in front of a computer. We have to try to answer these questions, and the treatment will follow naturally.”
Dr. Siwakorn often uses a specific phrase to help patients with office syndrome understand:
“Old muscles, old activities, will yield the same results. To alleviate pain, you need new muscles, new activities.“
This means strengthening existing muscles through exercise, regular stretching, moving around, and engaging in different activities. Sitting with proper posture and rearranging work equipment, such as keyboard placement and the distance between the eyes and the computer screen, are also important. “Normally, I explain all treatment options and let the patient choose. I don’t make decisions for them because I believe patients have the right to choose the treatment method that suits them, based on the information and explanations we provide. They will be able to follow it and maintain the correct approach for longer.”
With his approach to patients, Dr. Siwakorn has gained the trust of patients across various age groups. Although he is a young doctor, his age does not diminish his qualifications. He has many regular patients older than him who treat him like a son or grandson, whilst also showing respect and trust in him as a skilled doctor dedicated to his patients’ best interests, along with patients his own age who appreciate his friendly demeanour.
Improving Oneself by 1% Each Day
“I tell patients to exercise and get enough rest. If they have neck, shoulder, or back pain, they need to stretch frequently. But if we don’t do it ourselves, how can we teach patients?”
Improving oneself by 1% each day, consistently, leads to massive results. He believes this too.
“I constantly try to develop myself, both in my work and in other areas, including trying to improve the quality of life for patients. Everything I teach patients, I try to do myself. For example, with exercise or various programmes, I use the same principles I would give to my own parents. General things like exercising for 150 minutes per week – we ourselves must try to achieve that, not just recommend it without doing it. Starting is always difficult, especially if it involves a significant change from your original habits. But if we break down the change into smaller, easier, and consistently achievable steps over the long term, it’s more important than making a huge change that can only be sustained short-term.”
“When I tell patients to start exercising, I never tell them to exercise for 30 minutes from day one. Instead, I say just start simply, with small steps. But if they truly want to change, they will be able to. Small successes build encouragement and lead to bigger successes. If they can’t do it, we need to encourage and understand, not blame.”
True Happiness: Suffering with Difficulty or Suffering Less
As a student, Dr. Siwakorn viewed life as needing to find happiness through going out if he studied hard. So, he went out often. But with his heavy academic and work burdens, especially during his three years of specialisation, he gained a new perspective.
“I looked back at myself. When I studied, I would suffer and get stressed, then go out to find happiness, and then come back to suffer again. It was a cycle. But once I couldn’t go out or do what I wanted, my perspective on happiness changed. I learned to find happiness more easily, and I discovered that my happiness is simply not suffering. If I make every day free from suffering and stress, I might not need to seek happiness, or constantly go to the cinema, shop, or travel abroad. If we teach our minds that a certain state is happy, it will crave that kind of happiness. Happiness is like a pendulum; when it reaches a peak, as soon as that happiness even slightly diminishes, before it’s completely gone, we start to suffer.”
“But if we adjust our perspective to make every day good, to be proud of ourselves, and to go to bed without regretting what we did that day, to help others where we can without causing harm, to make ourselves useful, and to make suffering difficult, we might have a simple, unassuming life. It won’t soar high or sink low. It won’t have extreme happiness or extreme suffering either.”
Learning from the Past, Understanding the Present
In his free time, Dr. Siwakorn enjoys reading books: history, economics, self-development, to understand various stories and goings-on in the world, whilst also reflecting on himself.
“I find happiness in understanding why many things happen. If I’m not too tired, I try to read every day before bed.”
Dr. Siwakorn says he doesn’t have any outstanding skills, whether in music or sports. He is just an average person. But one thing that makes him different from others is his effort to understand certain things.
“Why does that person do this? Think like this? What have they been through in their life? By trying to understand, I don’t get angry easily. Nowadays, we can’t judge anyone because we don’t know what they’ve been through.”
“I’m just a normal doctor who wants to make patients better. I probably can’t say I can make a patient 100% well. I can only listen and help patients to the best of my ability, willingly. If you just tell me that your condition has improved with treatment, that alone makes me happy.”
Therefore, the doctor dedicates himself fully to his work to provide patients with the best possible care, because the patient’s lack of suffering is also the doctor’s path to happiness.
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SIWAKORN KONGTANACHART, M.D.
นพ. ศิวกร คงธนชาติ
Speciality
Rehabilitation Medicine
Education
Doctor's Degree, Doctor of Medicine, Navamindradhiraj University, Thailand
Board and Sub board Certification
Rehabilitation Medicine, Khon Kaen University
Certificate
Orientation BNH, BNH Hospital, Thailand
BDMS Doctor and Dentist orientation, BDMS, Thailand
Language
English
Thai
Gender
Male
Schedule
Rehabilitation Department
| Day | Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 09:00 - 19:30 |
| Tuesday | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00 - 19:30 |
| Thursday | 09:00 - 18:00 |
| Friday | - |
| Saturday | - |
| Sunday | 08:00 - 13:00 |
Premier Spine Rehabilitation Centre
| Day | Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 08:00 - 12:00 |
| Tuesday | - |
| Wednesday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Thursday | - |
| Friday | - |
| Saturday | - |
| Sunday | - |
This is the doctor's regular weekly schedule. Actual availability may vary — please confirm the available date and time when you make an appointment.