Singapore, 26 May 2012 The second class of DukeNUS Graduate Medical School (Duke-NUS) students marked the completion of their fouryear Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) training today. Mr. Heng Swee Keat, Singapores Minister for Education, graced the schools pregraduation celebration held in the auditorium of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore. The distinguished Professor Sydney Brenner, Nobel Laureate in Medicine 2002, was the event’s keynote speaker.

This cohort of DukeNUS graduands will further receive training as postgraduate year one doctors who will provide clinical care as vital members of the healthcare team. They may be trained under the Residency Programmes in specialties such as Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, Paediatrics and Psychiatry, among other fields.

Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education, said: With its intensive focus on research and its unique feature of taking in graduate-entry students from a variety of academic backgrounds, but who share a common passion of serving others, Duke-NUS produces doctors with a diversity of insights and perspectives, and brings together different strengths and expertise to continually innovate and improve on the healthcare provision for Singaporeans.

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, NUS President, said: Today, we celebrate with pride the remarkable accomplishments of Duke-NUS Class of 2012. Over the last four years, these students have been immersed in the Duke-NUS culture of excellence, boldness and imagination; and they have benefitted greatly from the innovative clinical and research training. The rigorous training and exposure will enable our graduands to make a real difference to patients, our community and society. We are confident these graduands will become role models for future generations of clinicians and clinician-scientists who will transform medicine through research and innovation. My heartiest congratulations to the Class of 2012!

It is clear that the innovative approach to medical education, clinical and basic research embodied by Duke-NUS is producing an extraordinary calibre of clinician-scientists who are uniquely equipped to become the healthcare and research leaders of the future, said Dr. Victor J. Dzau. Never before has there been as great a need for clinician-scientists who can not only engage in discovery science, but can translate discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic and improve the health of patients and the community. I have great pride and expectations for the class of 2012. Dr. Victor J. Dzau, Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University, and CEO, Duke University Health System, was in Singapore to grace the hooding ceremony.

I am proud to see that our graduands are starting a new chapter in their lives. They will work as critical members of clinical healthcare teams, to bring hope and relief to patients and their families. We hope they will continue to let their passion for medicine and their spirit of inquiry and curiosity drive future discoveries in patient and disease management, said Professor Ranga Krishnan, Dean of the DukeNUS.

Duke-NUS had five annual intakes since its M.D. programme started in August 2007. Since then, the school has admitted more than 240 post-baccalaureate students into its Americanstyled, researchoriented, four-year medical school programme. These students come from a diverse range of local and international undergraduate institutions. These include: National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Peking University, Chinese University in Hong Kong, University of Mumbai, University of Philippines, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, Duke University, Harvard University, and others.

The DukeNUS graduands will receive a joint Duke and NUS M.D. degree at the NUSCommencement Ceremony on 7 July 2012.

In addition to its 240-strong M.D. cohort, the school has over 20 students in itsPhD programme track. This track enables research-oriented medical students to leverage on their biomedicine knowledge to spur translational research aimed at developing better patient treatment, strategies and technology.

Duke-NUS Class of 2012 – Graduation Celebration & Hooding Ceremony, May 26, 2012

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