#askLKCMedicine2024 Demystifies LKCMedicine’s Admissions Process

Students who are considering studying medicine need to fulfil two essential steps. The first involves being certain about their motivations for entering the profession, and the second is to check off all the different boxes required to apply to medical school. While the latter is a rigorous process that can be potentially overwhelming, LKCMedicine eases the pressure by offering guidance to students, parents and educators in the form of #askLKCMedicine – an annual series of events to raise awareness about the School’s admissions criteria and process.

Virtual #askLKCMedicine2024 Session

This year’s #askLKCMedicine2024 kicked off with a virtual event on 24 May, which was attended by some 150 pre-university students, teachers and parents.

Apart from providing clarity about the School’s requirements for AY2025/2026 admissions, such as sitting the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) instead of the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT), the event provided attendees with an overview of LKCMedicine’s refreshed NTU MBBS programme that commences in August this year.

“In anticipation of the end of our collaboration with Imperial College London (in 2028), we took the opportunity to update our curriculum and put in latest changes from the field of medicine. We have incorporated these things into our programme so that when our students graduate, they can function well in the modern context of medicine,” explained LKCMedicine Vice-Dean  (Clinical Affairs ) Professor Kwek Tong Kiat.

(If you would like to find out more about LKCMedicine’s enhanced curriculum, read “The New NTU MBBS: Nurturing Future-Ready Doctors with a Heart for Patients.”)

Prof Kwek’s talk was followed by a segment on student life at LKCMedicine by Year 4 student Chua Tze Hean, who shared his personal highlights about being an LKCMedicine student, such as the School’s House system, Local and Overseas Community Involvement Projects, and LKCMedicine grants made available to students to pursue research and non-academic interests.

“We are able to participate in a wide variety of activities related to medicine and beyond because LKCMedicine’s flipped classroom structure gives us quite a bit of flexibility and our faculty is also very supportive. These are the intangibles that may not be obvious from the outside, but things that I really appreciate as a student,” noted Tze Hean.

To give the aspiring medical students a taste of the School’s pioneering Team-Based Learning (TBL) pedagogy, Lead for TBL Facilitation Ms Yang Lishan carried out a short demonstration of how LKCMedicine students participate in TBL sessions.  

Attendees were eager to clarify their doubts during the Question and Answer (Q&A) segment – a sign of an engaged and interested audience! Prof Kwek and Tze Hean were joined by fellow Year 4 student Surya Varma Selvakumar, and they were kept on their toes with questions about when is the best time to register for UCAT, whether GCE O-Level results matter (Answer: No), the type of research opportunities students are exposed to, and many more.

On-site #askLKCMedicine2024 Sessions

For those who preferred to directly interact with LKCMedicine faculty and students and participate in a hands-on TBL demonstration, the two on-site #askLKCMedicine2024 events on 28 June and 11 July were right up their alley.

Some 200 pre-university students, teachers and parents gathered at the Learning Studio, which is home to the School’s TBL classes at the Novena Campus, for both events. 

The TBL demonstration by Lead for TBL Facilitation Ms Yang Lishan was a novel experience for many, including Joshua Tio from Catholic High School.

“This is my  first time being part of a TBL session. Personally, I think TBL is a very good idea. When it comes to lectures, I get very bored easily and tune out. Active discussions are a good way to become interested to learn,” said the 16-year-old.

For Vitasha Monique Kaur, the Main Programme that featured members of LKCMedicine’s leadership — Prof Kwek, Assistant Dean (Curriculum Lead) Associate Professor Faith Chia, and Assistant Dean (Admissions and Overseas Electives) Associate Professor See Jee Jian — and current students was equally engaging and useful.

“The sharing by the Assistant Deans about the academics and process of application was interesting, especially about sitting the UCAT. A lot of people don’t know about it. I found out about the UCAT recently and attending this event clarified all the doubts I had. [The event] gave me a good picture about the entire experience if we want to come to NTU to study medicine,” commented the Raffles Institution student.

Megan Lee from Hwa Chong Institute shared similar thoughts. “I think it was quite cohesive and well-run. It covered all the aspects of curriculum that we are normally interested in, and I thought it was helpful.”

This was certainly the tone set by the presenters in both events.

Assoc Prof Chia provided a comprehensive overview of medical education in Singapore, during which she urged prospective students to consider three things when deciding on where to study medicine: what is the experience going to be like in that medical school, is it a good fit for them, and if there are certain unique aspects of the medical school that call out to them.

She also expounded the details of LKCMedicine’s enhanced MBBS curriculum, from how it was co-created by faculty, clinical partners, students, and alumni to the integration of new elements like precision medicine and digital health, the expansion of medical humanities, learning research skills, and more exposure to health in the community setting.

“These [aspects of our curriculum] would be very important for anyone practising medicine in the next 10 or 20 years because this is how medicine is shifting,” A/Prof Chia explained. 

Adding to her rich insights about LKCMedicine’s curriculum, Prof Kwek and A/Prof See broke down the School’s admissions process and entry requirements for the attendees on 28 June and 11 July, respectively.

“We are now at the UCAT period. So, if you are planning to apply to LKCMedicine for the next academic year, be sure to get your UCAT done [before the end of September 2024],” reminded A/Prof See. 

Another highlight of the #askLKCMedicine2024 events was the frank and often amusing presentations about student life by LKCMedicine students.

Attendees who were present at the first on-site event had the opportunity to hear from Year 1 student Dev Khurana and Year 3 student Kheng Xin Yi. Those who attended the second on-site event were privy to Year 4 student Surya Varma Selvakumar’s and Year 2 student Cherie Tan’s  experiences.

“I am from Project Daya and just came back from my sixth and final trip…we pride ourselves as a sustainable overseas community involvement project where our main goal is to empower villagers in Batam and provide them with health education,” shared Cherie when she spoke about the different aspects of student life in the pre-clinical years.

Although the student presenters were different for the events and their journey at LKCMedicine varied slightly from one another, all four of them were unanimous about the camaraderie among the students, even after graduation. This was also echoed by A/Prof Chia who observed that “our students and alumni have a very strong sense of cohesion and giving back to the School”.

The events came to a close with an engaging Q&A session. The presenters answered a wide variety of questions about the new NTU MBBS degree, building of portfolio before entering medical school, time management as a medical student, and the application process for students required to enlist for National Service.

Similar to the virtual #askLKCMedicine2024 session, the questions asked were aplenty.

It was heartening to see pre-university students and parents stay back after the events to engage further with our faculty and students to learn more about being a doctor and studying at LKCMedicine.

For more information on taking the UCAT, please visit the official UCAT website.