Education Qualifications: MBBS, MRCP, FRCP Edin, FAMS, FRCSEd (A&E), FIFEM
Clinical Prof Anantharaman graduated from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Medicine in 1975. Though initially trained and certified in Internal Medicine he switched to Emergency Medicine in the mid-1980s. He initiated the first-structured three-year basic post-graduate training program in Emergency Medicine, complete with log books, planned and conducted teaching sessions at the SGH Emergency Department and also the first-ever funded prospective research study in any Emergency Department in Singapore. Soon after returning from his HMDP in Emergency Medicine training from Israel in mid-1989, he captained the setting up of the Specialist Training Committee (STC) in Emergency Medicine. He introduced a structured three-year Advanced Training Program in Emergency Medicine, one of the first such Advanced Training programs in any medical discipline in the country. He also revised the Health services plan for Civil Disaster management in Singapore in the aftermath of the Hotel New World Disaster in 1986 and this revised plan continues to function as the basis for disaster management by the health services in our country to this day. He also drew up the first hospital management plan for civil disasters and National Emergencies for the Singapore General Hospital. These formed the basis for similar plans drawn up for the other public hospitals in the country in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993 he founded the Society for Emergency Medicine in Singapore and was President till 2003. In 1998 he was the founding President of the Asian Society of Emergency Medicine till 2001.
Clinical Prof Anantharaman headed the Emergency Department at SGH from 1994 to 2003 and led MOH’s Emergency Medicine Services Committee from 1994 to 2008, STC (Emergency Medicine) from 1989 to 2010, SCDF’s Medical Advisory Committee from 1997 to 2010 and the National Resuscitation Council Singapore from 2007 to 2018. He was also Division Chairman, Ambulatory and Clinical Support Services from 2003 to 2006. He was awarded the Public Service Medal for his services to pre-hospital emergency care in 2009. He introduced post-graduate Emergency Medicine examinations to Singapore, having organised the Exit Examinations from 1991 to 2013. He started the M Med (Emergency Medicine) Examinations in Singapore in 2001 and continues to chair the M Med (EM) Examinations Committee. He is also the first Emergency Medicine Consultant to be elected to the Singapore Medical Council. On the international arena, he has designed, led and conducted training programmes for provision of emergency care and disaster management in Indonesia, Karnataka, Haryana and Nepal from 1996 to 2019. He brought the International Conferences in Emergency Medicine to Singapore in 2010 making it the most successful and well-attended such meeting till that time. He is also the first Singaporean to be awarded the Order of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine. He was instrumental in the setting up of the Emergency Medicine ACP in SingHealth. He continues to work at the Emergency Department, SGH. During the current COVID-19 crisis he has shown exemplary leadership and performed 12 hr shifts with the teams. He has won many awards, including International Visiting Professor in Emergency Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, USA (1996, 2001), Best Tutor Award, NUS Medical Society (2010), Certificate of Individual Achievement in International Emergency Medicine Development, American College of Emergency Physicians (2012), Lifetime Achievement Award in Emergency Medicine, Society for Emergency Medicine in India (2012), Lifeline Foundation – AAEMI Award for Emergency Medicine (Individual category 2012), 1st Asian Emergency Medical Services Award for Lifetime Achievement (2013) and Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS (2015).
Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships:
- Clinical Professor, YLL School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (2004-2021)
- Chairman, M Med (Emergency Medicine) Examinations Committee, Division of Graduate Medical Studies, NUS (2001-2022)
- Member, Singapore Medical Association (1975 - current)
- Member, World Association for Disaster & Emergency Medicine (WADEM) (1989 - current)
- Member, Society for Emergency Medicine in Singapore (1993 - current)
- Member, European Resuscitation Council (1994 - current)
- Board Member, Emergency Medicine Cardiac Research & Education Group International (EMCREG-I) (1998 – Current)
- Member, Finance Committee, International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) (2010-2022)
- Member, Governance Committee, IFEM (2004-2022)
- Member, Education & Core Curriculum Committee, IFEM (2006-2022)
- Member, Research Committee, IFEM (2014-2022)
Awards:
- Best Trainee, 17th Medical & Medical Ancillary Officers’ Course, Singapore Armed Forces, 1976
- First International Visiting Professor in Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati, USA – 1996
- Honorary Professor of Resuscitation, University of Beijing, China – 1996
- Levy Family International Visiting Professor, University of Cincinnati Dept of Emergency Medicine, USA – 2001.
- Order of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (FIFEM) – 2004
- Ten Year Long Service Award, Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore – 2007
- EXSA Silver Award, Singapore – 2009, 2011
- Public Service Medal, National Day Awards, 2009
- National CSSP Awards, Singapore – 2009
- Best Tutor Award, NUS Medical Society – 2010
- Long Service Medal, National Day Awards – 2011
- Certificate of Individual Achievement in International Emergency Medicine Development, American College of Emergency Physicians – 2012
- Lifetime Achievement Award in Emergency Medicine, Society for Emergency Medicine in India – 2012
- Lifeline Foundation – AAEMI Award for Emergency Medicine (Individual category) – 2012
- 1st Asian Emergency Medical Services Award for Lifetime Achievement – 2013
- Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS – 2015
- Best Research Paper Prize for 2017, Singapore Medical Journal,– 2018
- First Prize for Best Research Paper in Translational Medicine, 17th International Conference on Emergency Medicine, Mexico City –2018.
- Joint First Prize for Best Poster. Oncologic Emergencies 2019 Conference, Houston, USA -- 2019
Leadership positions / roles in Education:
- Chairman, Specialist Training Committee (Emergency Medicine) – 1989 to 2010
- Chairman, Master of Medicine (Emergency Medicine) Examinations Committee, DGMS, NUS – 2001 to 2021
- Clinical Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- Clinical Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Adjunct Clinical Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
Selected Publications:
Anantharaman V, Seet LC, Tan TTC, Wong TF. Urinary Excretion Levels of Morphine and Codeine in subjects consuming medicinal preparations containing morphine or codeine and in drug abusers. Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore.1979; 8(2):148-159
Anantharaman V. Therapeutic Regimens for Acute Bronchial Asthma. Singapore Medical Journal. 1993; Vol 34:534-537
Lim SH,
Anantharaman V. Emergency Medicine in Singapore – Past, Present and Future. Annals of Emergency Medicine.1999: 338 – 343
Ong MEH, Chan YH,
Anantharaman V, Lau ST, Lim SH, Seldrup J. Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation Epidemiology in Singapore (CARE 1). Prehospital Emergency care. 2003; 7(4):427-433
Lindsell CJ,
Anantharaman V, Diercks D, Han JH, Hoekstra JW, Hollander JE , Kirk JD , Lim SH , Peacock WF , Tiffany BR , Wilke EK , Gibler WB, Pollack CV. The Internet Tracking Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes (i*trACS): A Multicenter Registry of Patients With Suspicion of Acute Coronary Syndromes Reported Using the Standardized Reporting Guidelines for Emergency Department Chest Pain Studies.; Ann Emerg Med. 2006;48(6):666-77
Anantharaman V. Impact of health care system interventions on emergency department utilization and overcrowding in Singapore”. International Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2008; 1(1):11-20.
Lim S H;
Anantharaman V; Teo W S; Chan Y H. Slow infusion of calcium channel blockers compared with intravenous adenosine in the emergency treatment of supraventricular tachycardia. Resuscitation 2009;80(5):523-8
Hobgood C,
Anantharaman V, Bandiera G, Cameron P, Halpern P, Holliman J, Jouriles N, Kilroy D, Mulligan T, Singer A. for the International Federation for Emergency Medicine. International Federation for Emergency Medicine Model. Curriculum for Medical Student Education in Emergency Medicine. Israeli Journal of Emergency Medicine – Vol. 9, No.2 July 2009. 30-6
Anantharaman V, Ng BBL, Ang SH, Lee FCY, Leong BSH, Ong MEH, Chua TSJ, Rabind AC, Anjali NB, Hao Y. Prompt use of mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: the MECCA study report Singapore Med J 2017; 58(7): 424-431
Chua WLT, Chan SEJ, Lai G, Yong LYT, Kanesvaran R,
Anantharaman V. Management of oncology- related emergencies at the emergency department: A long-term undertaking. Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine. September 2020. doi:10.1177/1024907920953675