Inside Duke Medicine

Second class completes training at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore

(Photo above: NUS President Tan Chorh Chuan, left, with Victor Dzau, M.D., chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and president and CEO of Duke University Health System.)

The 38-student second class of Duke‐NUS Graduate Medical School (Duke‐NUS) marked the completion of their four‐year Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) training at May 26 ceremonies in Singapore.

“I am proud to see that our graduates are starting a new chapter in their lives,” said Ranga Krishnan, M.B, Ch.B., dean of the Duke‐NUS. “We hope they will continue to let their passion for medicine and their spirit of inquiry and curiosity drive future discoveries in patient and disease management.”

Victor J. Dzau, M.D., chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and president and CEO of Duke University Health System, lauded the innovative approach to medical education, clinical and basic research embodied by Duke-NUS.

“Duke‐NUS is producing an extraordinary caliber of clinician‐scientists who are uniquely equipped to become the health care and research leaders of the future,” said Dzau, who attended the hooding ceremony in Singapore. “Never before has there been as great a need for clinician‐scientists who can not only engage in discovery science, but can translate discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic and improve the health of patients and the community. I have great pride and expectations for the class of 2012.”

The new graduates will now train as postgraduate year-one doctors in specialties such as internal medicine, emergency medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedic surgery, otorhinolaryngology, pediatrics and psychiatry, among other fields.

“Over the last four years, these students have been immersed in the Duke‐NUS culture of excellence, boldness and imagination, and they have benefited greatly from the innovative clinical and research training,” said NUS President Tan Chorh Chuan. “The rigorous training and exposure will enable our graduates to make a real difference to patients, our community and society. We are confident these graduates will become role models for future generations of clinicians and clinician-scientists who will transform medicine through research and innovation.”

Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Minister for Education, said Duke‐NUS “produces doctors with a diversity of insights and perspectives, and brings together different strengths and expertise to continually innovate and improve on the health care provision for Singaporeans.”

Duke‐NUS started in August 2007. Since then, the school has admitted more than 240 post‐baccalaureate students from a diverse range of local and international undergraduate institutions into its American‐styled, research‐oriented, four‐year medical school program. In addition, the school has more than 20 students in its Ph.D. program track, which enables research‐oriented M.D. students to leverage on their biomedicine knowledge to spur translational research aimed at developing better patient treatment, strategies and technology.

The 2012 graduates will receive a joint Duke and NUS M.D. degree at the NUS Commencement Ceremony on 7 July 2012.