A Flight to Greater Heights

22 Jul 2008

By Khaw Boon Wan

1. In Sep 2006, I had the honor to ground-break this new medical school called the Duke-NUS GMS.  I remember expressing my Ministry’s three aspirations for the GMS:

a. First, the new medical degree programme would be recognized by Duke University as its own and its graduates would be awarded a joint Medical Degree from both Duke and NUS. 

b. Second, GMS would help transform the Outram campus into a centre for academic medicine, attracting doctors, nurses, students, trainees and patients from afar to participate in medical education, research and service delivery here.  

c. Third, GMS would work closely with other healthcare partners in Singapore to translate medical education and research into better care and health for all Singaporeans. 

2. It is too soon to count our achievements but your progress over the last two years has exceeded my expectations.  The GMS joint degree aspiration is now a reality.   Your presence has helped the Singhealth community sharpen its clinical and translational research strategy.  Meanwhile, the GMS has launched five Signature Research Programmes, in emerging infectious diseases, cancer & stem-cell biology, neurobehavioural disorders, cardiovascular & metabolic disorders, and health services research.  These are all areas of healthcare priority. 

3. I believe your excellent progress on multiple fronts is a result of the shared commitment, support and goodwill of many partners. 

4. First, Duke’s strong commitment is palpable from day one.  Duke’s leaders are active participants in the GMS.  Dr Victor Dzau, Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke and President/CEO of the Duke University Health System, is a valuable member of the GMS Governing Board.  Dr Sanders Williams was concurrently the Dean of Duke University School of Medicine and the Founding Dean of the GMS, until last month.  He has now taken on the expanded role of Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Duke University School of Medicine and also serves as a member of the GMS Governing Board.  Prof.  Ranga Krishnan from the Duke Faculty is in turn a worthy successor to Dr Williams and we welcome his recent appointment.

5. Second, the Singhealth clinical community has been a great champion of the GMS.  They were the ones, led by Prof Tan Ser Kiat, who had been pushing my Ministry to help realize this project.  The first medical school in Singapore was anchored on the Outram Campus and they were determined to see the return of medical education to the Outram Campus.   I am therefore glad to see many Singhealth clinicians taking up concurrent faculty appointments at the GMS, despite their heavy clinical workload: Prof Soo Khee Chee, Director of National Cancer Centre and Associate Prof Ooi Choon Jin, Senior Consultant in SGH’s Department of Gastroenterology are two prime examples and role models. 

6. Third, the goodwill and generosity of private philanthropy has been a big boost to GMS’ progress.  In particular, the generous donation of $80 million from the Khoo Teck Puat Estate has helped GMS accelerate its biomedical research programmes, including the Signature Research Programmes that I highlighted earlier.  Private donations from the people are the best validation of the belief that GMS will contribute to better lives for all.

7. Today, we mark the structural completion of the signature Khoo Teck Puat Building.  The naming of this building is to recognise the generous gift by the Khoo family.  The building is on track to open by the middle of next year, when some 500 researchers and students will move in from the interim campus in Jalan Bukit Merah.  There will be state-of-the-art R&D equipment and five floors of research laboratories.  It will also house a research centre for genomic study as well as an electronic medical library.   I hope the Khoo Teck Puat Building will become a vibrant and lively focal point of academic medical education, where the passion for research will keep the research laboratories running 24 hours a day: a building that never sleeps.

8. With the excellent infrastructure in place, we can now push forward the rapid transformation of the Outram Campus as a “medipolis”, integrating clinical service, teaching and research in a holistic patient-centric manner.  There are many stakeholders in this campus: SGH, various National Centres and GMS.  We need to deepen existing collaborations and make them stronger partnerships, without which they may not succeed.  We need to pull different stakeholders together to align their missions and values.  We can be an unbeatable medical hub in this part of the world. 

9. I discussed this with Dr Victor Dzau in April this year.  Along the way, we decided to form an inter-agency committee to brainstorm on how we can deepen our collaborations further.  We have an existing agreement with Duke which has led to the formation of the GMS.  Let’s explore a possible Phase II Agreement with Duke: for a longer term engagement, a broader and deeper collaboration. 

10. Outram Campus was the cradle of medical education in Singapore.  The return of academic medicine to this campus will not simply be the return to the past in a nostalgic journey, but an exciting flight to greater heights and wonderful discoveries. 

11. On this note, I congratulate the Duke-NUS GMS as you enter the final construction stages of the Khoo Teck Puat Building.