by Kenny Chee

SINGAPORE'S ageing population could pose problems for the country's economic growth.

This is why the Republic's second medical school, the Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School, is expanding its research into ageing issues, according to dean Ranga Krishnan.

Research areas include the impact of an ageing population on health care, and how health-care services can be better provided to elderly patients.

Another area of study is palliative care, which is patient care and treatment that can reduce the severity of disease symptoms.

Three of the five research areas that the school focuses on - neuroscience, cancer and heart diseases - cover ageing-related issues.

Last year, it worked with the Lien Foundation to set up the Lien Centre for Palliative Care for such research.

At the school's official opening yesterday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore will need 'more doctors, as well as nurses and allied health professionals'.

The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine trains 250 doctors each year, which will be expanded to 300 by 2011. The Duke-NUS school produces about 50 doctors annually. Even so,Mr Lee, 57, said Singapore still needs more doctors to cope with an ageing population.

In 2007, almost 9 per cent of the population was aged above 65. By 2030, that number would double to 20 per cent.

Mr Lee added: "While we can hire a good number of doctors and specialists from overseas, we still need a substantial core of locally trained doctors. Therefore, we are continuing to study options to expand the supply of our local doctors."

For instance, the Nanyang Technological University has been approached by the Government to submit proposals for a third medical school.

Mr Lee also said that the Duke-NUS school's efforts to train doctors with research skills supports the country's push to develop the biomedical sector as another key pillar of the economy.

He lauded the school's success in attracting top-quality students and faculty, and garnering significant international attention.

Indeed, the school's research and teaching staff come from established institutions such as Harvard, Stanford and Yale.

About 37 per cent of the school's students are international students from 17 countries such as the United States, Poland and Vietnam.

While most of the school's cohort have science or biology degrees, about 20 per cent come from engineering backgrounds.

Two even have anthropology degrees. Second-year student Juliet Tan is one of them, having graduated with a degree in anthropology from Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Said the 23-year-old Singaporean: "The learning curve was very steep in the beginning for me, but the team-based learning in the school really helped, and the professors were always very dedicated and set aside time to help us learn and understand."

kennyc@sph.com.sg

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