News from NHG: HuMe: Humanistic Medicine in an AI-Driven Healthcare Landscape – The Pursuit of Wisdom Beyond Knowledge
By Group Clinical Education, National Healthcare Group
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In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming medicine, there is a growing need to preserve the humanistic aspects of healthcare. This has led to the National Healthcare Group (NHG) establishing Humanistic Medicine (HuMe) – an initiative aimed at ensuring that the essence of patient-centred care is not lost amid technological advancements. While AI provides unprecedented access to knowledge and data processing capabilities, true wisdom in healthcare emerges from the thoughtful integration of this knowledge with human values, ethics, and compassion.
NHG is dedicated to integrating AI responsibly while upholding the human touch in medicine. The HuMe initiative underscores our broader mission of “Adding Years of Healthy Life”, ensuring that technological progress complements — rather than compromises — compassionate, patient-centred care that embodies wisdom beyond mere information processing.
The Three Principles of HuMe:
- Ethical Practice of Medicine
Whilst AI can enhance decision-making through vast knowledge processing, the ethical responsibility and wisdom of medical practice remains a human prerogative. This aligns with Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s statement at the Singapore Health & Biomedical Congress 2024, where he emphasised that healthcare should be “AI-enabled or AI-enhanced, not AI-decided.” As we look to champion responsible and ethical healthcare in Singapore, NHG is ensuring that clinical decisions continue to remain in the hands of skilled professionals who possess the wisdom to interpret information contextually, with AI serving as a supportive tool rather than a determinant of patient outcomes.
- Redefining Wellness Beyond Biomedicine
True wisdom in medicine extends beyond biomedical wellness to encompass a holistic understanding of patient wellbeing. According to Associate Professor Tan Kok Yang, Senior Consultant, General Surgery, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, physicians need to rethink what “wellness” truly means for patients, integrating social, psychological, and emotional aspects into medical care. NHG’s River of Life framework embodies this philosophy, advocating for a life-course approach to healthcare that prioritises preventive care, patient empowerment, and wellbeing beyond clinical interventions – recognising that the wisest approach to health transcends the mere treatment of disease.
- Fostering Relational Skills in Clinical Practice
The wisdom of effective healthcare depends on empathy, shared decision-making, and strong interpersonal relationships – elements that AI alone cannot provide. HuMe promotes a pragmatic approach to relational skills development, ensuring that healthcare professionals integrate these aspects into daily clinical practice. As Associate Professor Aaron Ang, Senior Consultant, Psychiatry, Tan Tock Seng Hospital explains, humanism in medicine extends beyond doctor-patient relationships to include interactions within medical teams, organisations, and the broader healthcare ecosystem. NHG, through its focus on team-based care and collaborative practice, is embedding these relational competencies – the cornerstones of wisdom in clinical settings – into its training and operational strategies.
Associate Professor Aaron Ang (left) was one of the speakers at NHG Group Clinical Education's Inaugural Education Rounds on "Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine" held at the National Skin Centre.
Balancing AI Knowledge and Human Wisdom in Medical Education: NHG and LKCMedicine Partnership
The rise of AI in healthcare has sparked conversations about the need for AI literacy in medical education while preserving the cultivation of wisdom. Associate Professor Michelle Jong, Group Chief Clinical Education Officer, NHG, in her article for Annals Singapore, argues that the medical curriculum must evolve to bridge the gap between technological proficiency and humanistic care.
Speakers at SHBC 2024’s “Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Clinicians? Educating Healthcare Professionals in the Age of AI” included Associate Professor Michelle Jong (second from left) and Associate Professor Aaron Ang (right).
LKCMedicine Cultivating Wisdom from the Beginning
LKCMedicine and the larger Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) serve as a cornerstone in this transformative journey. As a key partner to NHG, LKCMedicine has a vital role in imparting wisdom to medical students before they even embark on clinical practice. As LKCMedicine undertakes to integrate humanistic principles into their curriculum from the earliest stages of medical education, they will ensure that future physicians develop not just knowledge but wisdom — understanding that healing encompasses more than technical expertise.
The collaboration between NTU Singapore, LKCMedicine, and NHG creates a powerful platform in which we can build an ecosystem for Humanistic Medicine research and education.
Together, we will be able to:
- Develop a clear and consistent framework for AI competencies at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, emphasising that technological knowledge must be guided by clinical wisdom.
- Integrate AI training alongside clinical skills, acknowledging that wisdom comes from their thoughtful combination.
- Enhance the understanding of the relationship between AI-derived knowledge and human wisdom in patient care.
A Human-Centered Future: The NTU-LKCMedicine–NHG Vision of Knowledge Serving Wisdom
As healthcare continues its AI-driven transformation, initiatives like HuMe remind us of the fundamental principle stated by Francis Peabody nearly a century ago, “The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.” While AI can assist in diagnostics, data analysis, and treatment planning, the irreplaceable element of human wisdom — manifested through compassion, ethical discernment, and interpersonal connection — must remain at the core of medicine.
The strategic alliance between NTU Singapore, LKCMedicine, and NHG represents a pioneering approach to this challenge. Together, we are building a continuum of wisdom development — from foundational medical education through to clinical practice. This partnership will produce healthcare professionals who not only possess cutting-edge knowledge, but also the wisdom to apply it humanistically.
Research initiatives jointly undertaken by NTU Singapore and NHG are exploring how humanistic principles can be embedded within AI systems themselves, potentially creating a new paradigm where technology enhances rather than diminishes the human elements of care. We are excited that LKCMedicine is serving as a living laboratory for these ideas, where tomorrow's physicians learn to balance technological excellence with compassionate wisdom.
By embracing this collaborative vision of education, research and training, the partnership is ensuring that future healthcare professionals understand that wisdom transcends knowledge — that being technically proficient without compassion, ethical judgment, and human understanding falls short of true healing. In doing so, medicine can truly harness AI’s knowledge-processing potential while cultivating the wisdom that makes healthcare meaningful and effective, with LKCMedicine graduates leading this transformation as they enter the healthcare system.