SMU partners Duke-NUS to train doctors with skills in other areas

The Singapore Management University (SMU) is collaborating with graduate medical school Duke-NUS to nurture doctors who are also skilled in areas such as law, business and computing.

Both institutions signed an agreement yesterday.

Students will pursue a four-year undergraduate bachelor's degree at SMU and gain conditional admission to Duke-NUS' Doctor of Medicine (MD) programme, which will run over another four years.

While undertaking their undergraduate studies at SMU, students will be mentored and involved in enrichment activities at Duke-NUS to prepare them for the MD programme.

A pre-medical course will provide foundation knowledge, skills and attitudes to help them in their clinical and scientific training.

A summer programme has also been designed by Duke-NUS to provide insights into graduate entry medicine, the roles of medical professionals and medical practice in Singapore, while a shadowing programme will pair students with a Duke-NUS faculty member and practising doctor.

Students will also have the opportunity to observe how Duke-NUS students and faculty members train within the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre.

SMU provost Timothy Clark said: "Increasingly, societal challenges have become multi-dimensional and solutions are often to be found at the intersections of different disciplines."

Duke-NUS dean Thomas Coffman added that the new pathway will allow students to "become adept at channelling their varied interests towards shaping the future of healthcare with precision and agility".

Some requirements for the final acceptance of conditionally admitted students include successfully graduating from SMU with a strong cumulative grade point average (GPA) and doing well in the Medical College Admissions Test examination prior to entry into the Duke-NUS medicine programme.

Duke-NUS said it regularly reviews what constitutes a strong GPA, but added that the MD class that matriculated last year achieved a GPA above 3.6 on average.

This is Duke-NUS' fifth such collaboration, the other four being with Duke University, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Yale-NUS College and the National University of Singapore.

Applicants to SMU's undergraduate courses were told of the new MD programme last year.

First-year law student Maxine Hong, 20, who has been accepted into this new route, said law and medicine are intertwined, citing the principles of informed consent as an example.

"Understanding the relationship between the two fields is crucial to ensure a healthcare ecosystem of the future that is able to meet the evolving needs of society."