SINGAPORE- Students aspiring to go to the Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine can look forward to state-of-the-art classrooms and research facilities at upcoming buildings for the school.
At a foundation stone laying ceremony on Wednesday, NTU president Bertil Andersson said: "To complement our innovative and technology-enhanced approach to medical education, our new buildings will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and future classrooms purpose-built for our teaching pedagogy."
At the ceremony, President Tony Tan laid a foundation stone at each of NTU's two new buildings, which will house its medical school, jointly set up with the Imperial College of London.
The Experimental Medicine Building at NTU's main campus will be completed in July, in time to welcome students for the upcoming academic year. The Clinical Sciences Building is at its Novena campus, near facilities such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which is part of a medical hub in the area known as Health City Novena.
Team-based learning will be a focus at the new school. Medical students can look forward to learning studios equipped with large screens where students can present their ideas to one another and compare their ideas side-by-side. Students will sit around tables in groups of six to discuss ideas and the use of iPads will feature heavily in the curriculum.
There will also be simulation wards where students can experience patient-centered team based simulations. The new clinical skills laboratory will create an immersive environment where students can perform tasks such as stitching up the prosthetic wounds on simulated patients.
At the Novena campus, there will be a roof-top medical library with collections in areas such as medical humanities. For both buildings, there will be several floors dedicated to research.
The school currently has 132 students, selected from more than 700 students interviewed in the past two admission exercises.
More than 900 students sat for the BMAT, a qualifying test for the school, and indicated that they would be applying for it.
To date, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine researchers have been awarded more than $15 million worth in grants.
