MASTER'S MESSAGE

23 December 2019

Dear Fellow Academicians

As we approach the close of another busy and significant year, I would like to wish you and your family a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year.

I would like to take the opportunity to expand on the Joint AMS-CFPS-SMA Statement issued on 4 December in response to the recommendations released by the MOH Workgroup.  As you are aware, the Workgroup was appointed by MOH in March this year to undertake a comprehensive review on the taking of informed consent by doctors and the Singapore Medical Council's disciplinary process.

Let me thank members of the Academy and College Councils, Chapter Boards and our Fellowship for actively engaging the Workgroup and participating in townhall sessions for the past many months.  The work however is not finished yet. 

In conjunction with the Workgroup's recommendation to revise the ECEG provisions on informed consent down to basic irreducible principles, the Academy will cooperate and collaborate.

Another aspect in which work has already started is to jointly develop appropriate specialty-specific guidelines to deal with standard commonplace treatments and procedures in each specialty.  We thank our specialty-specific Chapters and Fellows for proactively working out the finer details.

On the Workgroup's recommendations to use a tribunal-appointed expert as far as possible to reduce acrimony in proceedings for SMC's disciplinary process, the Academy along with its Colleges and Chapters are committed to support and assist SMC with the nomination and training of experts to strengthen the disciplinary process for the benefit of all stakeholders.  In the February edition of the Master's Message, I reported on the SMC-AMS-CFPS General and Expert Opinion Framework which had been implemented in January 2019.  I am happy to inform all Fellows that this has significantly shortened the time taken for SMC to appoint an expert and improved the quality of expert reports.

There is much to be done.  We will keep you updated on the developments of specialty-specific guidelines for informed consent as well as the programmes and initiatives to assist SMC disciplinary process.

As the holiday season is before us, I would like to inform Fellows and Members that our weekly CPD Bulletin will take a break for two weeks and the next circulation resumes on 6 January.

On behalf of the Academy Council, thank you for serving the profession with us.  As a registered Charity and Institute of Public Character (IPC), one of the Academy's key mission is to advocate for patients and patient care.  You have contributed to our profession in a meaningful way.  You have helped make healthcare better for patients.

With this in mind, we look forward to 2020.  With the diversity of our various specialties and sub-specialties, we will uphold high standards of professional practice and patient care.

Best Wishes

Dr S R E Sayampanathan
Master
Academy of Medicine, Singapore

The 53rd Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine (SMCM) will be held in Singapore on 18 January 2020 (Saturday) at the Carlton Hotel Singapore.  It will be single-session symposium, from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm, aimed at keeping the sequence of the Congress of Medicine running and more importantly, to preserve continuity of the annual fellowship that is shared between the three Academies.

The Councils of AMM, AMS and HKAM have decided to cancel the 4th Tripartite Congress cum 53rd SMCM 2019 scheduled in Hong Kong on 6-8 December 2019 due to advisory against non-essential travel issued by the Singapore and Malaysia governments.

The theme for the Symposium is 'Opioids in Pain Management - Challenges, Evidence-Based Practice and Guidelines'.  Opioids has been known as an important option for acute, chronic and cancer pain management.  However, its use is plagued by many possible psychosocial implications and possible regulatory scrutiny.  The Symposium aims to discuss the multifaceted challenges, evidence-based approach and available guidelines on its use.

We are also pleased to share that the Academy will be holding its Induction Comitia and 24th Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration on 18 January, from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm at Carlton Hotel Singapore.

We are honoured to have Mr George Yeo, Former Cabinet Minister Singapore, deliver the 24th Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration entitled 'Human Solidarity in a Fragmenting World'.  He has also kindly agreed to grace and witness the Comitia as Guest-of-Honour.

We look forward to your participation in both the Congress and Induction Comitia.

The College of Surgeons, Singapore Lectureship Dinner was held on 16 November 2019 at the Regent Singapore.  Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, graced the event as the Guest-of-Honour.

In his speech, Dr Koh cited that continued innovation and clinical leadership are the two important areas in ensuring the brand name of Singapore Healthcare continues to be a shining beacon in the region and globally: "We need a good system of clinical leadership development in our institutions.  Clinicians in positions of leadership must not become just another administrator.  Our value-add to the system must be our ability to give clinical perspectives to shape policies and implementation outcomes." 

Dr Winson Tan Jianhong, Consultant, Sengkang General Hospital, delivered the 24th Yahya Cohen Memorial Lecture on 'A Novel Derivation Predicting Survival After Primary Tumor Resection in Stage IV Colorectal Cancer'.

Professor Chee Yam Cheng, President of the Singapore Medical Council, delivered the 14th College of Surgeons Lecture entitled 'Surgical Practice in Singapore: 2020 and beyond'. 

The College also presented Past President Medal to Immediate Past President, Dr Chua Wei Chong as well as appreciation plaques to retired Council members. 

The Young Surgeon's Award 2019 and College of Surgeons Gold Medal Awards (Best Performing Advanced Surgical Trainee in their respective specialties) were also presented at the event.  My heartiest congratulations to our awardees on their excellent achievements. 

YOUNG SURGEON'S AWARD 2019

Dr Xu Xinni (Otolaryngology)  

COLLEGE OF SURGEONS GOLD MEDAL AWARDS 

Dr Ng Jun Jie (General Surgery)

Dr Eddie Tan (Neurosurgery)

Dr Raghuraman Raghavan (Orthopaedic Surgery)

Dr Pek Wan Sze (Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery)

Dr Raj Vikesh Tiwari (Urology)

The College of Physicians, Singapore held its annual Dinner and Lecture on 31 October 2019 at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore.

The 29th Seah Cheng Siang Memorial Lecture entitled 'Cardiometabolic Disease: A Journey in Singaporean Academic Cardiology from Target Discovery to First-In-Class Drug' was delivered by Professor Stuart Alexander Cook.  Prof Stuart Cook is the Tanoto Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre, and a Distinguished Clinician Scientist and Senior Consultant with the Department of Cardiology at the National Heart Centre Singapore.

A/Prof Christopher Chen Li-Hsian, Director, Memory Aging and Cognition Centre, National University Health System; and Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, delivered the 16th College of Physicians Lecture entitled 'How can we make dementia but a distant memory'.

The evening also witnessed the conferment of the College Honorary Fellowship to Professor Fock Kwong Ming and presentation of Past President College Medal to Immediate Past President, Professor Chan Choong Meng.

The event concluded with the presentation of tokens of appreciation to past Chapter Chairs and presentation of awards to best performing exiting residents of the respective specialties.  Please join me to congratulate these candidates on their outstanding achievements.

Chapter of Respiratory Physicians

Best Candidate for Exit Exam (Respiratory Medicine)

Dr Tan Ze Ying

Chapter of Dermatologists

Best Candidates for Exit Exam (Dermatology)

Dr Kong Yan Ling & Dr Sam Yang

Chapter of Medical Oncologists

Best Candidate for Exit Exam (Medical Oncology)

Dr Matilda Lee

Chapter of Rehabilitation Physicians

Best Candidate for Exit Exam (Rehabilitation Physicians)

Dr Matthew Tay Rong Jie

- End of Report -