7 Reasons Why You Should Study Medicine in Singapore

Duke-NUS Medical School’s Doctor of Medicine program attracts a wide range of students from all over the world, and offers a rigorous medical curriculum to complement its fresh and innovative teaching methodology, TeamLEAD, which allows students to learn and think beyond rote memorization.

Tomasz Merta, who is currently studying in the Doctor of Medicine program, considers TeamLEAD to be a positive learning experience, saying: “The first thing we go through is a short quiz which we do individually first and then as a team, which is the most fun part as we get to really discuss and attack the questions as team.

“You feel the support from everyone, and it complements our knowledge within our teams. You learn better and consolidate your knowledge better,” Tomasz adds.

“The curriculum is rigorous and there’s a lot of self-learning involved, but you also discuss the content with your classmates – that’s the beauty of the program. Working as a group is an enjoyable experience,” says Samantha Toh, a second year Doctor of Medicine student at Duke-NUS Medical School.

Although studying medicine can be incredibly challenging, it’s also very rewarding. The skills and experience you gain during your studies are highly transferable, allowing you to volunteer and work in new sectors and industries.

For example, Samantha is part of the logistics team at Camp Simba, which is a children’s camp for those with a family member or close loved one who has been diagnosed with cancer. The initiative has been run by students at Duke-NUS Medical School and Yong Loo Lin Medical School since 2009.

“It may not be clinically relevant, but I feel like during the journey you pick up skills along the way, and I believe the skills I’ve learnt and the experience I have volunteering for Camp Simba will really benefit me in my career,” says Samantha.

Duke-NUS Medical School students are also offered additional learning platforms, including working on community health screening projects where they can put theory into practice, as they interact with the local population and learn about their real-life healthcare challenges.

Duke-NUS students come from diverse, academic and mid-career backgrounds. Han Tianzhuo, a second year, Doctor of Medicine student at Duke-NUS Medical School, is a good reflection of such diversity at Duke-NUS. Having completed his undergraduate degree in finance, Tianzhuo started a career in the banking sector, and after several years, being inspired by his father, decided to pursue medicine.

“Both my parents are doctors, so deep down inside, I have always wanted to be one too. And after studying and working in Singapore for many years, I have grown accustomed to the developed systems and efficient way of life here and feel that Duke-NUS is the best place to continue my studies,” says Tianzhuo.

Like Tianzhuo, many other students with varied and successful former careers in accountancy, psychology, journalism, nursing, engineering and law come to Duke-NUS to pursue a new academic path.

Ranked first in IMD’s 2019 World Competitiveness Rankings, second in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2018 and fifth in the Global Innovation Index 2018, global reports continue to recognize Singapore as a world leader in research and innovation.

Whether you decide to specialize in cancer and stem cell biology, or neuroscience and behavioral disorders, or make radiological sciences your area of expertise, Singapore’s strong corporate reputation makes for even stronger industry links, leaving you with potentially prosperous career opportunities worldwide after graduating.

Singapore offers a quality of life that’s hard to rival, making it very worthy of its place as the 20^th best student city in the world according to the QS Best Student Cities 2019 rankings. Renowned for its inclusive nature and cosmopolitan experience – characterized by its cultural heritage of the east, and lifestyle of the west – Singapore is a melting pot of culture, religion and history.

Lead image credit: Duke-NUS Medical School