Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine - Imperial College London

The Lee Kong ChianSchool of Medicinecombines NTU’s corestrengths in engineeringand business withImperial’s world-renownedmedical expertise.Come 2013, an exciting chapterwill begin when Singapore’s thirdmedical school opens its doors tostudents. The culmination of a longstandingpartnership between NTU and ImperialCollege London, which is ranked amongthe top ten universities in the world, theschool will produce clinicians adept atleading interdisciplinary teams, as wellas bring new technologies to the field ofcommunity-based medicine.Serving patientsThe Lee Kong Chian School of Medicinewill boost efforts to meet an expectedrise in healthcare demand in Singapore.Advances in medicine and higher livingstandards have contributed to longer lifeexpectancies in developed countries; thishas, in turn, brought about an increasedburden of chronic diseases such as diabetesand heart disease.As Singapore transitions from anexpensive, hospital-based model ofhealthcare to a more affordable communitybasedmodel, a doctor’s role will becomemore complex. Besides the key functions ofdiagnosing and treating illnesses, doctorsmust also manage a range of administrativeduties, work closely with fellow healthcareprofessionals and use new medicaltechnologies effectively.This will be the mission of the medicalschool – to foster leaders in clinical carewho are attuned to the needs of patients inSingapore, and who can deliver premiumhealthcare within community settings.Interdisciplinary strengthsTo meet its goals, the school will combineNTU’s core strengths in engineering andbusiness with Imperial College London’sworld-renowned medical expertise.It’s a relationship founded on manyaffinities; besides being among the sevenfounding members of the Global Allianceof Technological Universities in 2009, bothinstitutions share a PhD programme inbioengineering and chemical & biomolecularengineering. Launched in April 2009, theprogramme marked the first time thateither party had offered a joint PhD withanother university.NTU first began discussions with ImperialCollege London about the new school in2008. NTU Provost and President-DesignateProf Bertil Andersson, the driving forcebehind its formation, notes the significanceof the collaboration with regard to NTU’sglobal standing. “Imperial College Londondoesn’t have an undergraduate programmewith any other institution in the world,” heexplains. “In fact, this is the first time that it isdeveloping and delivering a course overseas.”S$400 million gift to NTUThe new medical school is named afterthe late founder of the Lee Foundation– renowned business leader, pioneerand philanthropist Tan Sri Dato LeeKong Chian.Lee Foundation made a S$150m gifttowards the new medical school inJanuary 2011. With an enhancedmatching grant from the Singaporegovernment, NTU will receive S$400m.Half of the S$150m gift will go to anendowment fund for scholarships,bursaries and other forms of studentfinancial support. The other half willform another endowment fund for theadvancement of medical education andclinical research.“Tan Sri Dato Lee had a vision touse his wealth not for personalbetterment but to improve societyas a whole,” said a spokesman forthe NTU Board of Trustees. “Hisselflessness and generosity will bean inspiration to the students of thismedical school.”Lee Foundation said it was honouredto help NTU and Imperial CollegeLondon advance medical educationin Singapore. “This school willcontain some of the best featuresof current medical education, andalso provide assistance to bright andneedy medical students who canpursue their life’s mission,” saida Lee Foundation spokesman.

Engineering pedigreesThe medical school will build onthe pioneering work done by NTU’sCollege of Engineering over the pastdecade through collaborations with theSingapore General Hospital on medicaldevices and medical technology. It willalso leverage the strengths of the Collegeof Science, home to projects in neuroscience,immunology, health systems, biosensingand drug delivery, to name a few areas.At the College of Humanities, Arts, &Social Sciences, healthcare-related issuesare tackled through projects relatedto psychology, health economics, andhealth communications, among others.Similarly, the Nanyang Business Schoolis also poised to lend its considerableexpertise to students of the newmedical school.Many of the projects across NTU explorethe coming together of medicine, science,social sciences and technology – currentlyamong the most exciting areas of research.“The interface between medicine andengineering is going to be very important,and in this regard I think NTU andImperial College London are soulmates asboth universities are strong in engineering,”explains Prof Andersson.Clinician-educatorsAs talks between NTU and ImperialCollege London progressed, it becameclear that not only did both institutionsshare a common vision for medicaleducation, they brought strengths greaterthan the sum of their parts. “What ImperialCollege London offers is the most optimalcombination of a well-established medicalprogramme, a name that is well-recognisedthroughout the world, as well as excellentundergraduate medical expertise,” saysNTU President Dr Su Guaning.The medical school’s curriculum willadapt key elements of Imperial CollegeLondon’s proven educational model forthe local context, with lessons deliveredthrough methods such as e-learningmodules, simulations, lectures, seminars,apprenticeships and problem-based learningexercises. Where possible, the basic scienceof medicine will be taught by clinicians.Another highlight of the curriculum isits emphasis on exposing students to realclinical care conditions, perhaps as early asduring their first year in the programme.Those eager to experience and learnfrom a practising physician’s roundof challenges will have much to lookforward to.Medical school 101• The Lee Kong Chian School ofMedicine will accept its firstintake of 50 students in 2013.It will eventually take in 150students a year.• It will offer a Bachelor of Medicineand Surgery (MBBS) degree, to bejointly awarded by NTU and ImperialCollege London.• The school’s founding Deanwill be Prof Stephen Smith,Pro Rector (Health) and ChiefExecutive of the Imperial CollegeHealthcare NHS Trust. The SeniorVice Dean will be Prof MartynPartridge, who holds ImperialCollege London’s Chair inRespiratory Medicine.• Faculty members will be drawnfrom Imperial College London,as well as recruited globally andfrom Singapore.• The school’s primary clinicalpartner will be Singapore’sNational Healthcare Group, aleading name in public healthcarerecognised for the quality of itsmedical expertise and facilities.• Part of the school will be at NTU’snew Novena campus next to TanTock Seng Hospital.Imperial is delightedto be strengthening itslinks with Singapore andcementing our medicalschool partnership withNTU. Working hand inhand, we will help tomeet Singapore’s futurehealthcare needs.– SIR KEITH O’NIONS, RECTOR,IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

Peerless partnership: Imperial CollegeLondon’s Faculty of Medicine (left) is one ofthe largest medical schools in the UnitedKingdom and Europe, and has producedinnovations in biomedical engineering andbiosurgery. Over the years, NTU has developedhealthcare-related strengths in regenerativemedicine, biosensing and biomaterials.PHOTO: IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDONFirst-rate medicallearning: ImperialCollege London excelsin providing training incommunity medicineat its campuses inWest London.PHOTO: IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON/CHRISTIAN RICHTERS

NTU is proud to name the school the Lee KongChian School of Medicine in honour of the latephilanthropist Tan Sri Dato Lee Kong Chian. Hisselflessness and generosity will be an inspirationto the students of the school.Innovation plus: The medicalschool will allow NTU to build onits work with innovative medicalrelateddevices (such as stentsand heart pumps), as well asto pioneer fresh solutions inbiomedical research.Customised classesWith the first cohort of students setto begin their studies in 2013, onekey task will be to establish the medicalschool’s faculty ranks. Senior facultymembers of Imperial College Londonwill be an integral part of the school.The faculty will be a global one, recruitedfrom around the world. The school willalso be looking for local talents tostrengthen the ties to Singapore’smedical community.To provide students with relevantclinical training, the medical schoolwill also be partnering with Singapore’sNational Healthcare Group, a leaderin public healthcare that is recognisedfor the quality of its medical expertiseand facilities. Through its networkof hospitals, primary healthcarepolyclinics and national specialtycentres, the National HealthcareGroup will provide the school withvital training support.

Leaders and managersAnother unique aspect of the programmeis that students will benefit from modulesoffered by other schools at NTU. As such,the curriculum will draw from programmesoffered by NTU’s Nanyang Business School,for example. Ranked first in Singapore for itsMBA programmes, the Nanyang BusinessSchool is known for the depth and rigour of itsofferings, particularly in business management.This will allow students to work more effectivelywith fellow healthcare professionals such asspeech therapists and physiotherapists.The Nanyang Business School will havea major role to play in providing the trainingto develop the students not just as individualphysicians, but as medical leaders and overallcare managers. Graduates of the school willbe able to lead medical teams and bringclinical care into homes and communities,as well as reach out to elderly patients in anageing society.Aspirations in medicineFor aspiring doctors, the launch of the LeeKong Chian School of Medicine representsa fantastic opportunity, giving more ofSingapore’s best and brightest students achance to pursue medicine. This sense ofanticipation is shared by NTU’s partners.“We are delighted to be joining forceswith an institution that embodies manyof our own aspirations,” says Sir KeithO’Nions, Rector of Imperial CollegeLondon. “This partnership gives usthe chance to work with Singapore’stalented students and also providesa rare opportunity to pioneer a newmedical curriculum.”Learning spaces:Part of the medicalschool will beintegrated with theSchool of BiologicalSciences at the heartof NTU’s YunnanGarden campus.Tech synergiesWhile medicine will be the primaryfocus of the Lee Kong Chian School ofMedicine, one area to keep an eye onis its longer-term potential to pioneermedical devices and technologies. Theinterface between medicine, scienceand technology has proven to be richground for clinical breakthroughs suchas pacemakers, dialysis machines,prosthetic devices, MRI and artificialorgans. As the school develops, itwill seek to build on NTU’s strengthsin engineering and business to explorefresh ways in which these fields canimpact medicine.NTU already has a firm foundationon which to build; among the medicinerelatedprojects at the College ofEngineering are ones that involveimplants, drug delivery, cell delivery,regenerative medicine, biosensors,medical imaging, biomedicalsignal processing, bioinformatics,health informatics, bio-mechanics,mechanobiology and assistivetechnology.Drawing on Imperial College London’strack record of reaping synergiesbetween medicine and science andtechnology, the school will bring aboutmore breakthroughs in biomedicalengineering and robotic surgery, amongother areas. It will start out not justtraining the best physicians, but alsomaking a deep impact on the innovationof medical devices and the healthcaresystem as a whole.

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