On 18 September, Duke-NUS welcomed its 15th cohort of medical students with a virtual White Coat Ceremony, a traditional rite of passage where the School’s faculty help the new students to don their white coats for the first time, thereby formally inducting them into their medical studies. The donning of the white coats is complemented with a recital of the centuries-old Hippocratic Oath. By accepting the Oath’s ethical commitment, these aspiring clinicians pledge to serve their future patients and reinforce their passion for medicine.
Among the 72 new students in the 2021 intake, six are graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) who are the first to enter Duke-NUS via the School’s conditional admissions pathways.
One of the six students is Miss Glenda Wee, 22, a computer and information technology graduate from SUTD. She hopes to draw on her background to come up with new healthcare solutions that will improve lives: “With the understanding of technology and medicine, I’ll be able to use my knowledge in these fields as a tool to identify gaps as well as opportunities and hopefully design innovative solutions to bring clinicians and their patients together as partners.”
Admitted via the NUS-Duke-NUS conditional admissions track, Miss Teo Kaye Min, 23, is similarly excited to find ways to become a Clinician Plus through the skills that she has picked up during her undergraduate years. “With my background in engineering, I hope to effect change in the medical field through improving medical practice or devising innovative treatment options,” she said.
Founded on Duke-NUS’ ‘Clinicians First, Clinicians Plus’ approach, the four-year MD programme is designed to cultivate students into exemplary clinicians who can contribute meaningfully to the healthcare system as scientists, educators, innovators and leaders. Through the School’s strategic partnership with Singapore Health Services (SingHealth), students will be able to receive world-class training in a rich, multi-disciplinary ecosystem provided by Singapore’s largest healthcare group. At the end of the programme, graduates from the programme will receive their degrees, which are jointly awarded by the National University of Singapore and Duke University.
“Since Duke-NUS was established 16 years ago, we have attracted bright minds from many backgrounds to pursue our innovative medical education programmes. Our unique ‘Clinician First, Clinician Plus’ curriculum aims to develop students who will be outstanding clinicians and also critical thinkers who will contribute to improving the practice of medicine in Singapore and beyond,” said Professor Thomas Coffman, Dean of Duke-NUS.