Students' Take: 10th LKCMedSoc ExCo continues to serve as the voice of our students

By Ernest Ong, Class of 2024, President, 10th Students' Medical Society

On behalf of the 10th LKCMedSoc ExCo, I would like to express my appreciation to the student population for placing their trust in us, electing us as the new ExCo. We are honoured to have this opportunity to serve and represent the student body while creating an environment that everyone can call home, and we strive to do our best to achieve that goal.  

Introducing the 10th LKCMedSoc Exco:

• Vice-President (Education): Hor Jun Ying (M4)
• Vice-President (Wellbeing): Zavier Lim (M4)
• Honorary General Secretary: Colin Goh (M2)
• Honorary Treasurer: Chen Meng Yee (M2)
• Programmes Director: Phoon Yan Xin (M2)
• Outreach Director: Keng Xin Yi (M2)
• Students’ Union Representative: Ng Wei Long (M2)

From left, first row: Zavier Lim, Ernest Ong and Hor Jun Ying; second row: Phoon Yan Xin, Colin Goh, Ng Wei Long, Chen Meng Yee and Keng Xin Yi

The goal of the LKCMedSoc has always been to improve student life, and we would like to continue to do the same this year.  

The 9th LKCMedicine Students’ Medical Society Executive Committee (LKCMedSoc ExCo), Committee Heads, Year Representatives and House representatives have been adaptable to the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic, making quick adjustments based on the changes in the pandemic guidelines to provide the best experience for the student population. 

On top of bringing back events that involve the entire school, the team worked hard to improve student wellbeing by introducing more food options to the School’s Novena campus and supporting students through our examination period. We are immensely grateful to the team for putting students’ interests first, and we congratulate them on a fulfilling term. 

With the COVID disruptions, volunteering opportunities, both locally and overseas, have been limited over the past two years. This year, with Singapore entering an endemic state, we hope to be able to push for the return of these initiatives, to give back to the community. To encourage bonding within the different houses in the School, we aim to bring back the inter-house games, with both physical and nonphysical activities that were introduced amid COVID restrictions, to include more people with different interests.

With our expanding school population, including undergraduates and graduates, student engagement is essential to ensure that students' interests are kept at the heart of our medical school. The LKCMedSoc will continue to serve as the voice of the students, providing feedback to the School concerning academic, administrative, or school-life matters. 

We aim to improve current platforms to gather feedback from the student population, working with LKCMedicine alumni and involving different stakeholders, to propose changes to the School that do not just affect the current batch of students but also set a precedence for the future. We hope to be able to establish a culture where students feel that they have a say in school matters and are proud to be a part of the School.

The previous committee also made great strides in the TriMedSoc Alliance, a collaboration between the three medical schools in Singapore, planning events such as the TriMedSoc Symposium, an event for students to present their research and meet students with similar interests. We would like to build on the foundations laid by our predecessors to encourage greater interaction with our future colleagues. As a relatively new medical society, it is also a good opportunity to learn and adopt successful initiatives and practices from other medical societies.  

In October, the Inter-Healthcare Games will be making a comeback, involving students from different healthcare courses. We hope that this will be the first of many events to foster greater interaction among the undergraduates of Singapore’s healthcare community.

We look forward to working with the school faculty, administration and fellow students, and hope that everyone will continue to support us through participating and getting involved in our initiatives.