Visiting Scholar Programme

“Through my clinical experience, I realized that an individual emergency physician may have limited impact on saving patients' lives, and building a better emergency medical system is essential to truly save patient's lives.

In the HSSR, Prof. Marcus Ong and his team have made significant contributions to the development of Singapore's emergency medical system and have also promoted improvements in emergency systems across other Asian countries. I was keen to learn from Prof. Marcus Ong and his team about their strategies to enhance emergency medical systems and their collaborative efforts with other Asian nations.

"One such study focused on the disparities in outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients between Singapore and Japan, linking these differences to variations in resuscitation strategies and systems. Currently, we are exploring further research on integrating innovative resuscitation strategies into traditional systems to enhance patient outcomes.”

Being a visiting PhD student at the HSSR Programme at Duke-NUS has been an invaluable, enriching, and transformative experience. The main purpose of the trip was to enable the broadening of my knowledge of research methods for one of my projects and to have the opportunity to meet and learn from other researchers. Not only was I able to do both, through exposure to diverse perspectives from my interactions with other students and fellows, and through networking during social outings and at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Congress; I also had the thrilling opportunity to explore Singapore. Putting all these experiences together, this trip has been rewarding both personally and professionally. As I continue my research journey, I am excited to see how these experiences will shape my future research and career path.

“As a visiting scholar at the HSSR department of Duke-NUS, my experience revealed to me the profound impact of a personal visit compared to online interactions. Before my visit, the convenience of online discussions seemed sufficient for developing my research project's methodology. However, choosing to visit Duke-NUS in person proved to be a transformative decision for me. Due to the considerate approach by Prof. Marcus Ong and his team, my trip surpassed my expectations, proving to be both memorable and productive with numerous symposiums, seminars, and meetings. Exploring the expertise and collaborative spirit of Duke-NUS researchers and professors has truly been an inspiring element of my journey. Prof. Marcus Ong's kind mentorship and introduction to various networks, coupled with their ongoing support, have instilled optimism in creating my future plans.

To all fellow researchers in the related fields, I highly recommend the experience of being a visiting scholar at Duke-NUS and actively building up a network with researchers there.

Beyond academia, exploring Singapore's vibrant culture, remarkable landscapes, and warm hospitality of the people have added an extra layer of feelings and exciting dimensions to my trip."

I am a General Practitioner, Emergency Medical Services Physician & Associate Professor based at the School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland. I spent six months working with Prof Marcus Ong and his team at the Programme in Health Services & Systems Research, Duke-NUS, in 2024.

This was a fantastic opportunity to work with and learn from health services research colleagues from all over the work. During my time in Singapore I was involved in a variety of research projects that were themed around improving the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency (and unscheduled) care systems, by responding to the global challenges that are ahead and shared across many different health systems. I also had the opportunity to contribute to emergency medical services capacity development in Asia via involvement with the resuscitation academy program.

My wife and young children travelled with me to Singapore and it was a truly enriching opportunity to spend time there in 2024. I am most grateful to Prof Marcus and his team for hosting my visit, and for the ongoing collaborations that I know will follow.