Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration

Professor Gordon Arthur Ransome (1910 – 1978) was the founding and first Master of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. A legendary pioneer in medicine in Singapore, he practiced at the Singapore General Hospital for 33 years and mentored most of the senior physicians and surgeons of today.

As Professor of Medicine in the then University of Singapore, he laid the foundations of post-graduate medical training in the country. He spent the best parts of his life in Singapore dedicated to patients and to the teaching of undergraduates and postgraduate doctors. In July 1957, he inaugurated a meeting of medical specialists in his own house with a view to the formation of an academic body. His devotion to students of medicine and to patients aside, Professor Ransome also distinguished himself in public duties. His contributions to society at large and to communities beyond our own shores earned him numerous honours. He practiced medicine as close to the Hippocratic Oath as any doctor could hope to do.

In 1970, to honour his life and contributions to medicine in Singapore, his friends and colleagues created the Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration which has served as the keynote address at the biennial Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine.

List of Gordon Arthur Ransome Orators

Year	Series	Orator	Title / Download
2020	24^th	Mr George Yeo Former Cabinet Minister, Singapore	Human Solidarity in a Fragmenting World
2017	23^rd	Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Singapore	Law and Medicine: Professions of Honour, Service and Excellence
2015	22^nd	Professor James Best Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine	Is Medicine Still an Art?
2013	21^st	Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance, Singapore	A Fair and Just Society: What Stays, What Changes?
2011	20^th	Dr York Chow Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong	Bridges and Gaps in Healthcare
2009	19^th	Dr Tan Chorh Chuan President, National University of Singapore and Professor of Medicine	Three I’s and the Future of Medicine
2007	18^th	Dr Chew Chin Hin Honorary Postgraduate Advisor and Adjunct Professor, Division of Graduate Medical Studies, National University of Singapore and Emeritus Consultant, Tan Tock Seng Hospital	Some Milestones: Specialist Education, Training and Assessment in Singapore
2004	17^th	Sir Donald Irvine Former President, GMC, UK Chairman, The Picker Institute Europe, UK Senior Associate, King’s Fund, UK	Patient-centred Professionalism
2002	16^th	Dr Lim Pin Former Vice-Chancellor, National University of Singapore Senior Consultant, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital	Navigating in the Sea of Science and Technology
2000	15^th	Dr James Petrie President, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh	A Journey of Care - Mission Impossible?
1998	14^th	Mrs Anson Chan Chief Secretary for Administration Hong Kong	Continuity and Change
1996	13^th	Yab Dato Seri Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad The Prime Minister of Malaysia	Whether Training in Medicine Makes a Better Politician
1994	12^th	Professor Leslie A Turnberg President, Royal College of Physicians	Practising Medicine with Limited Resources -- "The Doctor's Dilemma"
1992	11^th	Sir Selman Cowen Provost, Oriel College, Oxford Former Governor--General of the Commonwealth of Australia	Ethical and Legal Issues Arising from New Frontiers in Medicine
1990	10^th	Sir Michael Pike British High Commissioner, British High Commission	From Spitfire Summer to Europe Reborn -- 1940 -1990
1988	9^th	Professor Tommy Koh Singapore’s Ambassador to United States of America	Some Medico-Legal Aspects of Aids
1986	8^th	Mr David Marshall Singapore Ambassador to France, Spain and Portugal	Physicians and Human Values
1984	7^th	Mr Tan Boon Teik Singapore's Attorney General	Human Rights and Economic Development
1982	6^th	Professor Wong Hock Boon Director, School of Postgraduate Medical Studies and Chairman, Department of Paediatrics, National University of Singapore	The Y Chromosome: Its Functions and Impact on Modern Society
1979	5^th	Mr S Rajaratnam Minister for Foreign Affairs, Republic of Singapore	The 5th Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration
1977	4^th	Dr Kwan Sai Kheong Vice-Chancellor, University of Singapore	The Search for Identity
1975	3^rd	Dr Khoo Oon Teik University Department of Medicine, Head, Medical Unit II, Singapore General Hospital	The Making of a Doctor
1973	2^nd	Dr Goh Keng Swee Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Republic of Singapore	Some Problems of Manpower Development in Singapore
1971	1^st	Dr Seah Cheng Siang Senior Physician, Medical Unit III, Singapore General Hospital	The Life and Times of Gordon Arthur Ransome

Links to more information on Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome

A noble doctor, a teacher and a gentleman I knew

by Peter P. B. Yeo

Emeritus Professor Sir Datuk Gordon Arthur Ransome (1910 – 1978) – The Man I Knew

by Cheah Jin Seng

Farewell Speech – Retirement Dinner (2nd July 1975)

by Chew Chin Hin

Gordon Arthur Ransome – An Appreciation

by Andrew Chew

Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome (1910-1978) – His Teaching Style and His Legacy

by Ng Beng Yeong & Cheah Jin Seng

Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome – A Profile of the Man

by Seah Cheng Siang

Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome – Teacher, Colleague and Friend

by Khoo Oon Teik

The Gordon Arthur Ransome Commemorative Issue

by Chan Heng Leong

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