STUDENT PROFILE IN DUKE-NUS GRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL

STUDENT PROFILE IN DUKE-NUS GRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL: 16.

Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Health (a) if he will provide an update on the Duke-NUS graduate medical programme and the demographic profile of the students; and (b) how it will augment the medical manpower requirements in our healthcare system.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School enrolled its first cohort of 26 students in August 2007 who are now in their third year. Enrolment grew to 48 students in the second cohort and 56 students in the third cohort. It is now in the process of recruiting its fourth cohort.

The Duke-NUS programme is a four-year graduate medical programme, modelled after the US Duke Medical School, with particular emphasis on promoting clinical research and nurturing clinician-scientists. The graduates from the programme will be awarded joint degrees from both the Duke University and the NUS. We are pleased with the progress of the programme. A lot has been achieved achieved within a very short span of time.

Among the students, 53% (half) are Singapore citizens, 11% are Singapore permanent residents (PRs) and 36% are

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international students. The average entry age of the students is 24 years old. Forty-one per cent of Duke-NUS students are male and 59% are female.

The graduates from this Duke-NUS programme will add to our medical community, contributing especially as clinician-scientists to our growing biomedical science research and industrial development.

Mr Speaker: Yes, Dr Lam, you have two minutes left.

Dr Lam Pin Min: Just a short question for the Minister. May I ask the Minister whether there is a quota imposed on the number of international students at the Duke medical programme. What is the maximum capacity that the programme can take in a year?

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Sir, we did not impose any quota. I think it is up to the University to decide who they want to take in. The main criterion is educational standard – they want the brightest students, wherever they may come from. I am quite glad that we still get about half from Singapore and quite a significant percentage from the PRs. On capacity, it is designed for about 60. Today, we are taking in about 50, quite close to the capacity. The US medical graduate programmes are, as the Member would know, relatively small. The UK Duke Medical School, for example, takes in only 100 per year.

3.00 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question time.

[ Pursuant to Standing Order No. 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos. 17 and 19-21 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix*. Question No. 18 has been postponed to the next available sitting of Parliament .]

*Cols. 299-306.