LKCMedicine’s Art and Science of Medicine Festival Returns for its Second Edition!

Travelling to the north after bringing experiential medical education activities and health awareness to the central of Singapore last year, LKCMedicine’s signature community outreach event caught the attention and awe of Woodlands Admiralty’s residents. The full-day festival was bustling with thousands of visitors, curious to learn about the goings-on at our research labs and classroom.

Held from 10am to 8pm at Kampung Admiralty, this year’s festival theme was “Connecting Medicine, Health & Life”. The event offered many hands-on activities across 18 education and research booths.

Despite the rainy start to the day, LKCrew, a group of LKCMedicine students kicked off the festival on the right note with expressive contemporary and hip-hop dance performances. Their youthful vigour permeated through the air, as the LKCMedicine community and partners present to engage members of public kicked into high gear.

At noon, the School welcomed Guest-of-Honour Minister for Health and Member of Parliament for Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), Mr Ong Ye Kung. 

In his welcome remarks, LKCMedicine Dean Distinguished University Professor Joseph Sung shared the purpose of the Art and Science of Medicine Festival, “It is our special effort in bringing our medical school to the heartlands, so that you can experience what goes on inside the world of medical education and research, where we train doctors and make healthcare discoveries for the good of humanity.” He also promised an exciting line-up of activities throughout the day.

This included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between LKCMedicine and Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) to introduce AIC’s Silver Generation Ambassador (SGA) programme in the first two years of NTU’s Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree programme. AIC will provide curated training for LKCMedicine students to deepen their knowledge on community resources that support active ageing, empathetic communication, and effective senior engagement.

A part of the enhanced NTU MBBS curriculum, this partnership will see each new cohort of LKCMedicine students onboarded as SGAs, commencing with this year’s batch of students.

Another highlight of the noon programme was the launch of Lee Kong Chian, Educationalist, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist – a book written by Dr Kenneth Lyen on the late founder of the Lee Foundation. One of the Lee Foundation’s significant contributions include a landmark gift of S$150 million to set up LKCMedicine in 2010. With Lee Kong Chian being a key part of the School’s identity, the festival was an apt platform to unveil this book and amplify Mr Lee’s legacy.

Right after, Mr Ong was presented with an LKCMedicine student-produced book titled History Taking, History Making: Walking into Singapore’s Medical Story by LKCMedicine Chair-Designate Ms Chan Lai Fung.

Mr Ong proceeded to visit some booths with Prof Sung and LKCMedicine’s leadership. He admired artwork and poetry by LKCMedicine students as part of their Medical Humanities course and spoke with LKCMedicine faculty and researchers at the booths featuring health and climate change, AI in Medicine and skin research. While touring the Education Maze, Mr Ong tried his hand at using an ultrasound machine, guided by our alumni, and an AI Chatbot Challenge. He also spoke to representatives of LKCMedicine Students’ Medical Society at their booth.

Throughout the day, Admiralty residents had the opportunity to listen to a variety of talks and discussion and develop a broader understanding about staying healthy and maintaining an active lifestyle. 

These included a Mandarin and English talk about combating chronic diseases by Vice-Dean (International Relations) Associate Professor Yusuf Ali and Assistant Dean (Academic Medicine) Associate Professor Sunny Wong; a dialogue titled, “Technology and AI can lead to healthier and happier lives,” with patient partner Sherry Soon, alumnus Dr Simon Ong, students Surya Varma Selvakumar and Joy Loke, moderated by Lead for Continuing & Community Care Associate Professor Wong Teck Yee about technology; and breast cancer awareness talks by our NHG partners.

“Having another speaker translating the content into Chinese was very good. There should be more of these talks. Learning about chronic disease management and microbiome is good knowledge of us. [LKCMedicine] should organise more of these events because it is helpful for people with chronic diseases,” shared Madam Chris Chua, a retiree who attended the talk by Assoc Profs Yusuf and Wong.

Over at the booths, attendees were spoilt for choice. Children and adults alike were thrilled to participate in various hands-on activities that showcased the innovative ways the School is pushing the frontiers of medical education and research in Singapore.

 LKCMedicine’s newly set up Office of Patient Engagement (OPEN) invited visitors to engage in conversations about how ordinary people have an impactful role to play in research studies. At the Microbiome Medicine booth, visitors had the unusual but fun experience of testing a mock AI toilet that provided information about the user’s gut health. This was then followed by a questionnaire about their digestive health and some useful tips from our researchers. The Cancer Discovery and Regenerative Medicine team showcased their work in cancer genesis and therapy as well as organoid research; Data Science and AI booth demonstrated the potential of biomedical data through cutting-edge analytics and AI methodologies; while the Dementia Research Centre (Singapore) and Brain Bank booths stressed the importance of early intervention for neurological conditions. 

“My favourite activity was the research booth [Microbes and Man] that displayed the bacteria samples. I also learnt how to take care of my health. At one of the stations, there was a checklist of your gut health. I think I will follow that because I scored quite low,” remarked Madhu, a St Andrew’s Junior College student.

Another highlight was a free basic health screening by the HELIOS-SG100K team, which was hit with many festival goers.

“My wife and I did the eye check-up. We are excited to use the body composition machine. It is very good of LKCMedicine to organise a roadshow here so that such machines and tests are accessible to the community, and we don’t have to go far,” said Admiralty resident Mr Azhar.

Visitors also embarked on an experiential journey to learn about the School’s innovative pedagogy and hear directly from LKCMedicine faculty, students and alumni. At the different stops in the Education Maze, attendees had a taste of what it feels like to live with age-related impairments through trying on an ageing simulation suit; experienced how LKCMedicine utilises Digital Learning such as VR and AI tools in the teaching of our medical students; unpacked the human body to learn about organs; and played games to learn how to apply practical and life-saving skills at home.

“The most fun for me was the anatomy booth. We don’t usually get to see how our organs and systems look like in real life. It was interesting because it is not covered in my current Polytechnic course,” shared Jevontae Goh. The Nanyang Polytechnic student added that he hopes to become a doctor and study at LKCMedicine in the future.

The eventful Festival had a moment of calm during Assistant Dean (Clinical Communication) Dr Tanya Tierney’s Mindfulness and Wellbeing Workshop. In addition to illuminating the importance of managing our stress and emotions. Dr Tierney provided participants with helpful everyday tips. 

Excitement levels rose once again when the festival came to a close with an adrenaline-pumping Zumba session led by Student Life & Support Assistant Director Ms Ivis Wee.

The second Art and Science of Medicine Festival added to Kampung Admiralty’s bustling energy and was a resounding success. It also displayed the unity  of the LKCMedicine community, with many faculty, researchers, staff, students, and alumni coming together  to answer queries on the MBBS programme, student admissions and research, and express their creativity as performers and emcees.

“The most memorable part of the festival for me was seeing the diversity in pedagogy and programmes, not just the undergraduate MBBS programme but also the PhD offerings in the School. There is also a whole range of research that is taking place which is quite amazing,” enthused Year 5 student Surya.

Dr Simon Ong from the Class of 2019 shared, “I enjoyed my time at LKCMedicine so it is nice to come back and contribute. I do believe in what the School is doing in terms of spreading awareness and education among the public. These are all important messages that we want fellow residents and patients to hear.”