With effect from 1 April 2016, the Alumni Relations Department, currently residing in the Office of Communications, Organisational Development and Alumni Relations, will transfer to the Student Affairs Department in the Office of Education.

Welcome from Dr Mara McAdams, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs

I am thrilled to be formally involved with the alumni as of April 1st! I am always on the lookout for grads in the building, and the (kind, curious, grad-centred, solutions-focused) interrogations that follow, can now be called work!

You, our alums, are the key to the success of our education mission, and the decision to bring the Alumni Relations group back in to the Office of Education will help better align all of us to the mission. I have been amazed to hear from students how much our alums are mentoring and teaching juniors in their work and also in special sessions with students - our students and those from other schools. I am looking forward to knowing more about what you do for the school, what more you want to do, and what the school needs to be doing to better meet the needs and expectations that the healthcare system has for you.

So, yes, I want to 'use you' to help improve what we are doing here in the school so that future alums are more successful junior doctors, but the decision to site Alumni Relations in Student Affairs rather than, say, in MERE, reflects a broader vision. My focus in my role in Student Affairs is personal and professional development with an emphasis on wellness. All of you are working long hours, juggling personal and professional priorities, while managing daily work pressures alongside the stress and uncertainty of exams and evaluations. Alumni Relations is doing a great job facilitating and supporting events for alumni and this will continue to grow! You can't look after others well if you aren't looking after yourself.

I look forward to reconnecting with each of you at upcoming events. Please contact me at mara.mcadams@duke-nus.edu.sg if you want to meet for a coffee or a drink outside a scheduled alumni event.

Message from Ms Corinna Ng, Director - Office of Communications, Organisational Development and Alumni Relations

I am so pleased to see how we have graduated 207 MDs, 1 MD/PhD and 8 PhDs over the years. It has been three interesting and eventful years since the Duke-NUS Medical Alumni was set up as a society. The leadership, commitment and numerous contributions of the DNMA committee has not gone unnoticed. I am also delighted to see more and more DNMA members step forward to mentorship and volunteer roles, despite so many tough demands on their time and energy. I just know that our medical students continue to want to interact, learn from and be inspired by you!

To our burgeoning PhD alumni community, may your careers grow from strength to strength.

I hope each of you will be active advocates for your alumni group and stay in touch with your alma mater in the coming years. As I follow your careers and share your stories in the coming years, I am constantly reminded how alumni are the most enduring asset of any institution.

I would also like to put on record the School's appreciation to Ms Joan Ku, Assistant Manager for Alumni Relations, for being the face and voice alumni have been closely interacting with these past three years. I can vouch that Joan has been more than tireless and selfless in serving and supporting our MD and PhD alums!