The LEAD room was abuzz with excitement, as students from the Class of 2027 settled behind the desks that stretch from one end of the curved room to the other. This brightly-lit classroom would soon become a second home for the newest cohort of medical students who took their first steps to becoming future clinicians on 17 July.

Joining the Class in the LEAD room, Dean Professor Thomas Coffman welcomed them to Duke-NUS: “Our number one job is to teach you to be outstanding clinicians and practitioners of medicine, but we also hope that some of you will go on and do other things to advance medical practice, whether as researchers, educators, leaders or as entrepreneurs and innovators.”

Professor Thomas Coffman (centre) addresses the Class of 2027 in the LEAD room, a space that will become a second home over the course of the first year 

For Ms Ayyappan Madhumitha, one of the 72 students from the Class of 2027, the opportunity to train as a Clinician Plus was what prompted her to apply to Duke-NUS. “I aspire not only to be a clinician, but a Clinician Plus. Duke-NUS’ vision of producing doctors who are also leaders, scientists and educators is a direction that resonated deeply with me,” explained the aspiring paediatrician. 

Echoing her sentiments, Madhumitha’s classmate Mr Yehya Nakaweh added: “What drew me the most to Duke-NUS, beyond its campus and teaching pedagogy, was its mission to developing generations of not just doctors, but Clinicians Plus.”

“Our number one job is to teach you to be outstanding clinicians and practitioners of medicine, but we also hope that some of you will go on and do other things to advance medical practice, whether as researchers, educators, leaders or as entrepreneurs and innovators.”

Prof Thomas Coffman

“The notion of ‘Clinician Plus’ is woven across the four years of the Duke-NUS curriculum. It represents many things; all with the underlying aim to build students’ capabilities fundamental to exploring real-world healthcare problems and improving patient care,” explained Professor Scott Compton, Associate Dean for Medical Education at Duke-NUS, who along with along with Interim Head for Education, Associate Professor Shiva Sarraf-Yazdi, joined the students in the LEAD room.

To give students a well-rounded medical education, they will be exposed to early encounters with patients on the wards and in the community to help them understand the social, emotional and practical needs of patients with the School’s emphasis on social prescribing.

“I am looking forward to clinical postings where I can both interact with patients and develop my clinical acumen,” added Ms Gini Wong, another first-year student.

Duke-NUS alumnus and Clinical Assistant Professor Ignasius Jappar (Class of 2012), co-director of the “Foundations of Patient Care” course extends a warm welcome to the Class of 2027

Madhumitha, on the other hand, is looking forward to the TeamLEAD sessions: “They are an engaging way of learning for me,” she said, referring to the active discussions that her class will engage in over case studies and tutorial questions throughout the year.

Madhumitha and Wong, along with six other classmates, were admitted through Duke-NUS’ conditional admissions pathways. They are joined by classmates from diverse backgrounds, with degrees in both science and non-science subjects and, in some cases, double degrees.

And for others, like law enforcement officer-turned-medical student, Dr Denise Loh, medicine is a second career.

“Having witnessed how my father slowly recovered from his illness and how his doctor made him feel better was inspiring to me. Not only did the doctor save my father, he gave us back a precious member of the family. Being a part of my father’s journey to recovery brought me great satisfaction and that was how the seeds of my dream to become a doctor was planted,” said Loh, who graduated with a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

While each of the first-year students may have a different story to tell, they have one thing in common: a passion to pursue medicine and to serve the community.   

“There are many exciting things happening in medicine and you’re part of the generation that’s going to have to help us figure out how to deal with many of these new challenges by enhancing and supporting technology… I look forward to seeing you grow over these next four years and into the outstanding clinicians that we know you’re going to be,” concluded Coffman.