News: From medical school to marriage

When Dr Joey Wong and Dr Charmaine Lee first stepped into medical school as aspiring doctors in 2013, they were preparing themselves for a rigorous MBBS programme and not expecting to meet their life partner.

As LKCMedicine’s pioneer batch with just 54 medical students, Dr Wong and Dr Lee soon discovered many opportunities to get to know each other better. They found themselves in the same team-based learning group and when the School held its first Dinner and Dance in 2014, they worked closely to organise the event.

Through the intensive training and preparations to be future doctors, being in medical school together helped them to meet more regularly and to have someone to share the journey with. It also strengthened their relationship as a couple.

“It was nice to be able to have shared experiences and common topics and being able to help each other through school and exams,” said Dr Wong, who is currently working at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Dr Wong and Dr Lee are now preparing for their wedding which will be held next year. On 8 December, the couple returned to where it all began, the LKCMedicine Novena campus, for their wedding photo shoot.

On their unconventional choice of location, Dr Wong shared, “It’s a beautiful location to shoot at with both the heritage buildings and the modern facilities, and we did spend a lot of time at the library together."

With the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, they are taking a more cautious approach to making their wedding plans and hope that restrictions will ease by then.

Looking back on their experience as the inaugural Class of 2018, the couple has many fond memories of medical school. Among them are the first Peanut Butter & Jam (PBnJ), a platform for students to perform in front of their peers and the School community, held outside the LKCMedicine Toh Kian Chui Annex, and going for their electives at Imperial College London.

Dr Wong said, “It was really an honour and privilege to be able to have been in the inaugural class. Of course, there were lots of trial and error but we were very fortunate to have faculty and staff that were passionate and dedicated to the cause of the School and to bring it to greater heights.

“There were many memorable and unique moments that I think can only come with a small class of medical students such as seeing familiar faces throughout the School and knowing them by name. It felt more like a second home where we could be familiar with everyone, be it batchmates, faculty, staff, and support staff such as the security officers and cleaning staff.”

Our warmest congratulations to Dr Wong and Dr Lee on their upcoming nuptials!