The dean of Singapore's newest medical school hopes to train more students to become clinician scientists, or doctors who treat patients and also do research.

Professor Dermot Kelleher spoke to the media for the first time on Monday morning ahead of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine's opening this July. The school at Nanyang Technological University is set up in partnership with Imperial London College. Classes will start on Aug 5, and the first intake of 54 students will undergo a five-year undergraduate medical degree programme.

Professor Kelleher added that students will be exposed to team-based learning coupled with technology-enhanced learning like the use of iPads. They will also be given simulation training and early clinical exposure in their first year.