Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Former names |
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Type | Public |
Established | 1905 |
Parent institution | National University of Singapore |
Dean | Yeoh Khay Guan |
Location | Kent Ridge, Singapore |
Website |
medicine |
The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine is the medical faculty of the National University of Singapore and one of three medical schools in Singapore. It is the oldest medical school in Singapore and Malaysia and boasts a list of distinguished alumni, including a Prime Minister of Malaysia, a President of Singapore, the first female Malay physician and notable Malaysian and Singaporean politicians.
History
The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine was first established as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905 to train physicians from the British colonies of present-day Singapore and Malaysia.[1] It was renamed King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1921, after receiving a donation from the Edward VII Memorial Fund[2] founded by Lim Boon Keng, and was housed at the heritage-listed College of Medicine and Tan Teck Guan buildings which are both currently owned by the Ministry of Health. The dental school was founded not long after.
During World War II, the College continued operating even with the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, but not without consequences. The first casualty was a fourth-year medical student based at Tan Tock Seng Hospital who was fatally wounded by Japanese shells during the Battle of Singapore. While his friends were burying him, they were spotted by Japanese soldiers and eleven were killed on the spot. The dead are commemorated by the SGH War Memorial.
In 1949 the KECM then merged with Raffles College, which specialized in the humanities and teacher training, to form the Singapore campus of the University of Malaya (UM). The medical school was essentially the Faculty of Medicine of UM and students in Malaysia wishing to study medicine would go to the Singapore campus. UM eventually split into UM (Kuala Lumpur) and the University of Singapore in 1962 and UM in Kuala Lumpur established its own medical school.
The medical school continued operating through the mergers of the various predecessor institutions which formed the present-day National University of Singapore. In 2005, NUS's centenary, it was named after Yong Loo Lin, following a $100 million endowment from the Yong Loo Lin Trust. The gift enabled the medical school to expand its infrastructure and facilities.[3]
Departments
The School comprises departments such as the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Anaesthesia, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Diagnostic Radiology, Epidemiology and Public Health, Medicine, Microbiology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Paediatrics, Pathology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Psychological Medicine, and Surgery.
Admission and Programmes
The School uses the British undergraduate medical system, offering a full-time undergraduate programme leading to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). For Nursing, the Bachelor of Science (Nursing) (conducted by the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies) is offered.
Affiliated Hospitals
Notable people
Alumni
- Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean ophthalmologist and politician
- Lam Pin Min, Singaporean pediatric ophthalmologist and politician
- Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, Malaysian politician and former President of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
- Mak Joon Wah (1967), Malaysian pathologist
- Mok Ying Ren (2012), Singaporean athlete and SEA Games gold medalist
- Ng Eng Hen, Singaporean oncologist and politician
- Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean neurosurgeon and politician
- Tan Cheng Bock, Singaporean physician, businessman and politician
- Tan Chorh Chuan (1983), incumbent President of the National University of Singapore
- Robert Tan, physician specializing in men's health
- Wong Meng Kong (1987), Singaporean chess grandmaster
- Tien Wong, Singaporean ophthalmologist
- Woffles Wu, Singaporean plastic surgeon
- King Edward VIII College of Medicine (1925-49)
- Tun Datuk Dr Haji Awang Hassan (1934), 5th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang
- Sir Han Hoe Lim, Singaporean physician and politician
- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad (1953), 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia
- Tan Sri Dr Salma Ismail (1947), first Malay woman to qualify as a physician[4]
- Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wife of Mahathir
- Benjamin Sheares GCB (LMS 1929), 2nd President of Singapore[5]
- Tan Sri Dr David Tan Chee Khoon (1949), Malaysian politician known as "Mr Opposition", co-founder of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
- Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School (1905-1921)
- Abdul Latiff bin Abdul Razak (1919), the first ethnic Malay to be a qualified physician[6]
- Chen Su Lan (1910), social reformer and anti-opium activist
- Charles Joseph Pemberton-Paglar (1917), founder of Paglar Maternity and Nursing Home (now Parkway East Hospital)
Faculty
- Roy Yorke Calne, British surgeon
- Jannie Chan, Singaporean entrepreneur, former lecturer in physiology and pharmacology
- Ong Teck Chin, Principal of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (1994-2010), former physiology lecturer
- Lim Pin, former Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Singapore
- Shan Ratnam, physician specializing in contraception, former Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Paola Ricciardi-Castagnoli, Italian immunologist and Scientific Director of the Singapore Immunology Network
- Benjamin Sheares, served as Professor of Obstetrics at King Edward VII College
See also
References
- ↑ Manderson, Lenore (2002). Sickness and the State: Health and Illness in Colonial Malaya, 1870-1940. Cambridge University Press. p. 15. ISBN 9780521524483.
- ↑ Heritage Places of Singapore. Marshall Cavendish International. 2011. p. 165. ISBN 9789814312950.
- ↑ History
- ↑ "First Malay woman doctor dies". The New Paper. 21 July 2014.
- ↑ "Former Presidents – Benjamin Sheares". istana.gov.sg.
- ↑ Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore. Xlibris. 2012. ISBN 9781477159965.
- M Mahathir (July 2005). "The Singapore Years and Subsequently" (PDF). Annals of the Academy of Medicine (Academy of Medicine, Singapore) 34 (6).
- Teo, ES (July 2005). "The History of the College of Medicine and Tan Teck Guan Buildings" (PDF). Annals of the Academy of Medicine (Academy of Medicine, Singapore) 34 (6).
- "King Edward VII College of Medicine". Infopedia. National Library Board. 2011.
- Other
- Photo: GUESTS ATTEND THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF KING EDWARD VII MEDICAL COLLEGE BUILDING – National Archives of Singapore
External Links
- Official Website
- King Edward VII College of Medicine Alumni Association
- NUS Medical Society (MedSoc)
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