Message from Our Staff: Progress of our pioneer cohort

By Professor Naomi Low-Beer, Vice-Dean (Education) and Director (Medical Education Research & Scholarship Unit)

As we prepare to select LKCMedicine’s Class of 2024, it is timely to review the progress of our pioneer cohort, the Class of 2018. Where are they now and how are they doing?

All 52 of our first class are reaching the end of their Postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1) in eight different hospitals across all three healthcare clusters: National Healthcare Group (NHG), Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) and the National University Health System (NUHS). This first year of work after graduating from medical school represents an important period of transition from medical graduate to practising
doctor.

Reports about our graduates have been very positive indeed. This was affirmed at a meeting of LKCMedicine’s Governing Board in November last year where senior consultants from NUH, SGH and TTSH commented on their high standard of professional practice. Two of our graduates Dr Julia Ng and Dr Brenton Sio shared their experience of starting work as PGY1 doctors. Although they felt that the transition from student to doctor had, at times, been challenging, LKCMedicine had prepared them well; in particular the Student Assistantship Programme – a 10-week internship that takes place after the final examinations and just before graduation – had enabled them to focus on applying their clinical knowledge to the care of patients, and to working as part of the healthcare team.

Our graduates remain deeply connected and committed to LKCMedicine, and they have the privilege of being alumni of both Imperial College and NTU. Many have stayed in touch with the House Tutors who nurtured them through their years of medical school. They are also proving to be outstanding mentors and educators for their juniors, initiating teaching sessions and organising mock examinations.

So, what next for the Class of 2018? They will start PGY2 next month in May, with some entering residency training and others spending time as medical officers before deciding on their speciality of choice. We believe they have the foundational skills to flourish, whatever their career destination, and that they are doctors who will, in accordance with LKCMedicine’s mission, ‘advance the science and practice of medicine for the good of humanity’. Our pioneer cohort have bright futures ahead and we are immensely proud of them.