Pioneering Singapore medical students don their White Coats

The Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) welcomed its first 54 students at the inaugural White Coat ceremony this week.

LKCMedicine is a joint initiative between Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Imperial College London. 

The students began their classes on 5 August and over the next five years of their Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree will pursue an innovative curriculum developed by a team in Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine. The trainee doctors will gain experience in a wide range of clinical settings from an early stage in the course and will use the very latest learning technology, including South East Asia's first Anatomage Table which displays life-sized 3D images of full body anatomy. 

Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, Singapore

At the White Coat ceremony held at NTU’s Yunnan Garden Campus, new students recited declarations affirming their commitment to medicine, received their first stethoscopes and were presented with white coats by the Dean of LKCMedicine Professor Dermot Kelleher.

Professor Kelleher, who also serves as Dean of Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, said: “We are thrilled to be introducing the first cohort of LKCMedicine students to Singapore’s medical community. All of them have achieved astonishingly high standards to gain admission and we thank them for trusting our new medical school with their training. Over the years ahead we hope to repay that confidence with opportunities to learn from outstanding teachers using the most innovative tools. Experience in clinical settings such as hospitals and polyclinics will be a critical part of their studies. The conferment of the white coat, which will be used throughout the medical course, is a first step on the journey towards becoming a first-rate doctor.”

Singapore’s Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong presided over the ceremony, while Imperial President & Rector Sir Keith O’Nions and NTU President Professor Bertil Anderson observed.

Sir Keith O’Nions said: “Imperial and NTU have worked tirelessly over the past three years to design a world-class medical education and to recruit students who will excel as doctors serving Singapore. I am delighted that today we can welcome them at this important public ceremony. Singapore’s brightest talents are represented in LKCMedicine’s inaugural cohort. I wish them the very best in their studies.”  

Speaking at the event, Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chair of LKCMedicine, offered heartiest congratulations to the inaugural class: "This is a very happy and proud day for all of us. The launch of LKCMedicine is a one in 100 year event. The last time Singapore opened a new medical school was 1905.”

In his closing speech, Professor Chee Yam Cheng, Group CEO, National Healthcare Group, and LKCMedicine Governing Board Member, said: "Medicine has always attracted the best and the brightest students from each year’s school cohorts. But being the best and brightest in academia with sterling grades does not automatically make you a good, much less, a great physician. It is the respect and compassion you show towards those whom you come in touch with that makes the difference.

"Medicine as a profession has high standards of ethics and professionalism. If you always place the interests of patients above your own, you will not go wrong.

"Welcome to this great and noble profession, Graduating Class of 2018."