Pioneering LKCMedicine graduates start work in hospitals

The first graduates from Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) started working in hospitals this week after five years of study.

The medical school, run jointly between Imperial College London and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), welcomed its first cohort of medical students in 2013.

The state-of-the-art campus admits 150+ students per year and builds on Imperial’s world-renowned medical curriculum and NTU’s rapidly developing academic excellence, as it trains the next generation of Singaporean doctors.

The first class of 52 graduates started working across hospitals in Singapore this week and will continue their training in various specialties such as surgery and paediatrics.

Ambitious vision

Professor Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London, said: "Imperial and NTU founded LKCMedicine with an ambitious vision, and these first practitioners are its most important realisation to date.

"Our pioneering 52 students have demonstrated academic excellence, compassion and confidence by completing this groundbreaking and rigorous medical education.

"We have every confidence that they will thrive and make great contributions to healthcare and medicine in Singapore. We are very proud of them."

Making history

NTU President and Distinguished University Professor Subra Suresh said: “The pioneer batch of medical students makes history this year as the first medical graduates from NTU.

"Besides getting a top quality education from NTU’s joint medical school with Imperial College London, they also had access to first-rate learning facilities on the NTU main campus and at our Novena campus.

"We are confident that the graduates have been well trained by our faculty using the school’s unique pedagogy and will serve patients in Singapore well and make NTU proud.”

Several of the first graduating cohort worked at Imperial in August 2017 for their overseas electives.

Earlier this year second year students from LKCMedicine visited Imperial to broaden their medical knowledge.

As part of an exchange programme, the students visited laboratories and clinical settings during a week-long trip designed to enhance links between the two medical schools.

The 22 students spent time conducting lung function and breathlessness tests, as well as sessions on anatomy and HIV radiology.