Reflecting on his “fulfilling” journey as a clinician-scientist, Professor Thomas Coffman, Dean of Duke-NUS, said in his opening address: “We are really privileged to be able to do two things that we love—taking care of patients and conducting scientific research. It’s not easy and requires a lot of support, but it is certainly something we all believe in and is critically important to our School.”
As part of the AMC’s efforts to bolster support for clinician-researchers across career stages, Clinical Associate Professor Chow Wan Cheng, Vice-Dean for Academic Medicine at Duke-NUS and Group Director for Academic Medicine at SingHealth, shared that the AMC will be committing more than S$30 million over the next decade to aid this community through several new initiatives, such as a research fellowship for residents as well as new research support for junior clinician-researchers.
The clinician-researchers in the audience also had the opportunity to find out how they can leverage the many resources available to them during a fireside chat with Clin Assoc Prof Chow and other senior clinician-scientists and administrators from the School. These included Associate Professor Charles Chuah, Senior Associate Dean with the Academic Programmes Management Department; Professor Ooi Eng Eong, Associate Dean for Early Research Career Development; Professor Darren Lim, Interim Director of the Centre for Clinician-Scientist+ Development; and Professor Tan Eng King, Associate Dean for Faculty Development for Clinician-Researchers.
To round off the evening, the Appointments and Development team launched the pilot of an academic policy chatbot for faculty of the AMC. Introducing AskADD, Assistant Professor Yeo May May, Deputy Director of the Appointments and Development Department, shared with the audience that the chatbot will help them navigate academic appointments, promotion and tenure policies and procedures.
Noting that bringing SingHealth and Duke-NUS together was a deliberate choice aimed at strengthening the institutions’ collective capabilities, Clin Assoc Prof Chow expressed her gratitude to the resilient and dedicated individuals who have helped to make this union a reality.
She added that all involved in this effort are driven by a shared commitment to the wellbeing of patients, whose needs inspire them and fuel their progress and achievements.