Meet Duke-NUS Medical School's 14th cohort
Our 14th cohort includes individuals from diverse professional and academic backgrounds. Hear from the Class of 2024, who share what attracted them to Duke-NUS and their hopes and aspirations as they embark on the start of their journey into the medical profession.
Tuleen Sihabi
“Although Turkish, I was born and raised in the United Arab Emirates [UAE], which is a melting pot of nationalities and cultures, and known for its strong diversity. As such, I grew up always learning from multiple people and perspectives. When I came to Singapore for the Prehealth Experiential Program, I was impressed by Singapore’s diversity of ethnicities and languages, and its similarities to my hometown in the UAE, such as lifestyle practices and rapid development. It reminded me a lot of home. The culture in Singapore is also very welcoming and supportive.”
“After graduating from Brown University in the United States, I joined a Ph.D. program at MD Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School in the University of Texas, Houston, USA. My PhD education trained me to think about the clinical application of my own research while providing me with several opportunities to shadow physicians who shared the same academic interest as me to understand the clinical meaning of my translational research. This led me to find my passion in treating patients and to train further to become a clinician-scientist.”
Ko Junsuk
Sung Chiao Han
“During my volunteering stint with Habitat for Humanity Singapore, I had the opportunity to interact with an elderly lady who shared her struggles with daily life while battling brain tumour. Her struggle of loneliness, frailty and pain made me realise how we often focus on the medical treatment and overlook the patient’s overall well-being. This encounter was a huge turning point for me. I hope to be that patient-centric doctor who is empathetic to the patient’s struggles and to support my patients and fight for them till the end.”
“The calling for medicine came to me later in life. I was exploring potential careers that could improve the lives of others while enrolled in my last year at Nanyang Technological University as a Communication Studies major. During this transitional stage of my life, I developed agonising, nauseating migraines that left me doubled over in pain. It opened my eyes to the pain and suffering that illness causes and the indescribable relief that medicine brings during times of need. This sparked my desire to join the medical field and take responsibility for providing care for others.”
Lau Siaw Ee
Dinesh Selven
“Although I was going to be in the healthcare sector as a biomedical engineer when I graduated, I felt the drive to be in the frontline. Whilst undergoing an internship at a biomedical technology company, I helped engineer a cancer diagnostic device. It was gratifying to know such cutting-edge medical technology potentially improved patient lives. However, I felt something was missing as I was unable to witness its effects first-hand. This motivated me to not only want to help develop such devices but also directly implement them as a doctor.”
Change. Change is and will be
the action word in your life now and for the next few academic years. Easy for the rest of us to say, and so hard for you and your family to hear, imagine, and figure out. There is change from the colleges every day about what to do with their freshman class of 2024. You will have heard of online classes for next year, new registration dates, change in prices, students on or not on campus and in or not in residence halls. Classes for on-campus students for one-semester, followed by a
semester online. Priority given to freshman and seniors who plan to graduate in May. Half of the freshmen on campus for first semester, and the other half starting on campus in second semester, alternating with on-campus and on-line off-campus. How to figure it all out? Check first your choices with the college where you have sent your deposit. Think about you, as a first year away from home student with new classmates in those on-campus and on-line residential plans offered for
2020. There are also countless opportunities for taking a year off from college. Here are a few ideas to consider, realizing that these options can change momentarily. Check them out for ideas that you can adapt to suit your preferences: No matter your choice of going to college in fall semester or to wait a year, you will have plenty of company among other high school graduates either way. Every day the colleges are working tirelessly to find the safest way to handle their particular campus and create solutions to help their students and faculty to the best education they can provide.College Class of 2024: To College Or Not To College?
Posted July 23, 2020, 4:15 pm by What Can I Do If College is Not Right For Me, Right Now?
How Are Colleges Approaching the Fall 2020 School Year?
At this moment, about 61% of the colleges have decided to have students on campus. Usually that means freshman, at least half of them for the first semester, and the other half on campus for the second semester, so that you can meet your new classmates, get to know your school and the level of academic work expected from you.
Some state universities - UC universities, for example - have decided that they are too big to safely have undergraduates on campus in 2020. Other state universities are accepting a modified enrollment of students, with a mixed program of in-class and on-line learning, such as UVM [University of Vermont]. Take a look at their website to get an idea of how UVM and other state universities may organize freshman year.
A typical U.S. liberal arts residential college [1,500 to 2,000 students] such as Amherst College in Western [rural] Massachusetts has spelled out how they are going to manage their freshman class. If your college hasn’t yet sent you their solution for freshman on campus this fall, then take a look at how Amherst is planning in order to have an idea of a liberal arts solution for on-campus students in 2020.
Use these two examples to give you ideas of questions to ask your college [how many in a dorm room, are meals provided in distanced seating, will there be in-class instruction, sports, music and arts activities] and whatever else is on your mind.
Leaving for College or Staying for College: It Is Always Up to You
Parents, teachers and friends of teenagers: think back to your high school graduation and looking forward to leaving home with your classmates for college. Can you possibly imagine being persuaded to stay home another year because of a national health factor? Can you imagine waiting to find out if classes will be in the classroom or a mix of online and in the classroom?
Can you imagine giving up being in a dormitory, even if everyone is in a single room, and meals are served by pick-up meals around the campus with various outdoor and distanced dining areas for a whole year?
Thinking back to 17- or 18- years old, it all sounds wonderful to me, “If I can just get on that campus and be in college!” Wait! A friend who graduated years and years ago, just told me that there is no way he would take that risk if he could get those credits online at home.
There you are... it's your choice according to who you are and what your opportunities are. Living with this global pandemic with your classmates or with your family or both will be your choice. Ahhh college. Ready or not, but still, "The Class of 2024 marches on!"
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Joyce Slayton Mitchell
Joyce Slayton Mitchell, former public and school college counselor, author of WHO IS THIS KID? COLLEGES WANT TO KNOW! Writing Exercises for Winning Applications, 2019; 8 First Choices: Strategies for Getting in, 4th Edition, 2020. Education Consultant for U.S. College Admissions, US and China.