Duke-NUS has always been a close friend to the CN Yang Scholars Program, with annual visits scheduled for our scholars to ask questions about the programmes offered there. This year was no different, with 12 of our scholars dropping by to find out more about Duke-NUS’ unique curriculum from our NTU Alumni: Liu Shi Yang, Tan Kai Wei, Charles Tiu and Justin Ooi.
Besides its status as a Graduate Medical School, the thing that makes Duke-NUS different from Lee Kong Chian and Yong Loo Lin Medical Schools is its focus on medical research. Duke-NUS provides invaluable teaching and lessons in not only the usual clinical setting, but also across 5 different sectors – such as neuroscience and behavioural disorders and emerging infectious diseases – allowing students to put their varied backgrounds, from engineering to philosophy, to good use.
Students in Duke-NUS can choose from their 3 programs: MD, PhD, or MD-PhD programs, and can expect to go on to have careers in research in renowned institutes like A*STAR, University of Oxford, Merck MSD and the Agency for Integrated Care. For more information about the programs, you can visit duke-nus.edu.sg to find out more.
One of the NTU alumni showing us around the structural biology lab
Highlights of CNYSP’s annual visit to Duke-NUS included tours of their laboratories, classrooms and even a practical session, where one of our scholars, Grace Tay, got a chance to try her hand at intubating a dummy. Such simulated procedures play a major part in the life of a Duke-NUS MD student, familiarizing them with the complicated instruments, techniques and procedures before moving on to more realistic practices.
Grace having fun trying to save our ‘patient’
Such simulated procedures play a major part in the life of a Duke-NUS MD student, familiarizing them with the complicated instruments, techniques and procedures before moving on to more realistic practices. These, along with Team Based LearningTM and attachments to various hospitals and clinics, ensure that Duke-NUS graduates will be well-trained and ready to take on their roles as medical professionals.
Applying to Duke-NUS is not for the faint of heart: With only about 50 slots open to application from students of all backgrounds and majors, competition is stiff, and is only made tougher with their MCAT requirements. However, as long as you’re passionate for the medical profession, and are academically competent, you certainly stand a decent chance at getting in.
If you’re interested to learn more about Duke-NUS in general, feel free to pop by during their open house on the 31 October 2018 or subscribe to the Outreach Telegram Channel to receive more information about upcoming outreach events t.me/CNYSCevents. If you haven’t had enough of CY1500, you can also sign up for 5 week program in May-June: GMS1000 lets you clear 3AUs and gives you an edge over other Duke-NUS applicants, through critically evaluating biomedical research, communicating scientifically and defending your research proposal. Find out more at duke-nus.edu.sg/education/pre-medical-module
For those who aren’t interested in reliving the joys of CY1500, you can join the Prehealth Experential Programme where you can learn about the latest medical research and participate in “community-based learning”, ie TBLTM again.
Thank you for reading, and we hope to see you at future events. See you soon!
There’s nothing like a place we can call home. For all CN Yang scholars, CresPion halls is a place which all scholars have called home at least once. On the 2nd of February, scholars from past batches were invited to come “home” once again, gathering at CresPion function hall for the CN Yang Scholars Homecoming event. The event, held annually, was organised by the 10th EC Outreach portfolio. It provided a platform for the newly minted freshmen to interact with senior batches to find out more about the programme, as well as allowing the seniors to catch up over some good food and drinks.
The atmosphere was really chill, especially since it was a Friday evening – a perfect way to end off the week and kickstart the weekend. Photos of the club and its past members lined the walls, alongside balloons which kept the mood light and jovial. On each table was a classic tin of Redondo wafers, every scholar’s favourite EWP snack, as well as a set of interesting questions in case anyone had left their icebreakers at home. There was even a photo booth set up for the scholars to take photos and bring back some keepsakes. All that was missing was some good background music, but it was nothing a little chitchat couldn’t solve.
Current undergrad scholars chatting with the alumni
The night started off with a scrumptious dinner, complete with desserts and drinks. The scholars happily mingled with one another as they tucked into the delightful food, having good laughs and reminiscing about times past. My favourite dessert was the fruit tarts, which I had at least 3 of (shhhhhh). Before we progressed further into the night, Dr Goh, the Head of Research for CNYSP delivered the opening address. This was followed by an update of the happenings of the past year by Kai Xin, the Vice President of the 10th EC.
Personally, I got to talk to Edwin, a really easy-going person who shared his many experiences as a former CN Yang scholar. I did not know it at the time, but he turned out to be the Head Progs for the Freshman Orientation Programme (FOP) for his second year, and he is also the current president of the NTU CNYSP alumni club, which was really cool. It’s rare to see 3 generations of FOP Head Progs within a one-meter radius of one another. That amount of brainpower.
Edwin and Kirk Ming, Head Progs FOP 2012 and Head Progs FOP 2017
Once everyone had their fill of food, Yi Heng, the emcee for the event, wrapped up the programme at the function hall and proceeded to usher the scholars into the various seminar rooms for the sharing sessions by the seniors. There were 4 sharing sessions, each geared towards different interests of the scholars. The speakers ranged from PhD students to a Senior Head of Higher Education Policy in MOE. They shared a great many things about the working world, from interviews to expectations, as well as bountiful bonuses that companies gave out.
Benjamin sharing his experiences from his time as a CN Yang Scholar as well as in his current position at SingTel
Towards the end of the night, all the seniors gave a brief introduction of themselves so that the freshies could approach them should they be interested in any of the jobs/PhD research areas that the seniors were specialising in. This was especially helpful as it allowed us to approach the right people for advice. One of the seniors working in the aviation industry even confirmed our long-held suspicions that the prices of flight tickets were manipulated. That drew a pretty intense response from the audience, no doubt.
Overall, the event was an enjoyable one, food, company and all else. Kudos to the Outreach team for planning the event from start till end, and I will definitely be back again next year!
We were fortunate to be given the opportunity to visit the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) at A* STAR. As a computer science undergraduate, I was undeniably eager to learn more about the various research studies and innovations enabled by computational tools.
Our visit started off with a series of talks by the scientists and researchers at IHPC. Our first speaker, Dr Qin Zheng from the department of Computer Science, shared about data analytics and processing in the context of urban systems. One notable study he shared was the collection of data using the “SENSg” tracker as part of the National Science Experiment. Involving students from all levels, the sensor tracked the mobility patterns of students, shedding light on the modes of transportation students take to commute to and from school. The sensor was able to closely monitor the transportation patterns of the students, providing more precise data as compared to EZ link cards, which could only reveal the initial and final destinations of commuters. Dr Qin Zheng shared about how the scientists analysed the data and the interesting findings gleaned from the study, such as why the actual time students took to commute from one place to another was less than that estimated by tools such as Google Maps. It was actually because students knew how to take shortcuts, such as through a patch of grass, or under HDB blocks, thus reducing the time taken. I found the whole process of analysing and understanding the data collected very interesting as it contextualised the data and findings to our daily lives.
Our second and third speakers, Dr Ho Seng Beng and Dr Prasanta, were from the social and cognitive computing department. Their team had developed cognitive and psycholinguistic tools to analyse data on social media. One particular tool that stood out to me was Crystalace, a social analytical method developed by the team to detect sarcasm. Users can key in any text and the method would measure the sarcasm level of the phrase. I have always found sarcasm something that is hard to detect and explain even for humans, and so was pleasantly surprised to learn that the tool could detect sarcasm rather accurately. Indeed, this tool can help to filter out the sarcastic comments when analysing the vast amounts of data on social media, as sarcastic comments can distort general sentiments, overestimating a positive response when the sentiment is negative in reality. (You can try it out for yourself here: http://crystalace.socialanalyticsplus.net)
The second part of our visit comprised a tour of FusionWorld, an exhibition within A* STAR which showcases inventions and technologies from the research institutes there. Besides viewing the exhibits, we got to try out the Brain Computer Interface (BCI) and play a simple memory game. The BCI tracks the activity of the brain, in turn allowing the user to control devices. This technology can be used in the medical field, such as to help stroke patients rehabilitate. From ultra-thin light emitting films that are used to print advertisements on buses to an application that can track and monitor the safety of a child on school buses, these technologies highlight their relevance to improving our daily lives.
The visit was indeed an insightful one as it underscored the power of science and technology to improve our way of living and daily lives. Furthermore, it showcased computational tools as a means data analysis, providing vast opportunities for research and innovation.
The CN Yang Scholars’ Club (CNYSC) is set up and run by the scholars of the CN Yang Scholars Programme. The management committee is elected by the scholars on an annual basis.
