SMSV recently had a freshies gathering at Casa Esperanza thanks to Yin Fei who had kindly offered her place for the event.

We will like to extend a warm welcome to the new Year 1s who have joined us as medical students in Australia, and thank the medical students from the different year levels who have come down for making this a successful event.

For those who have not signed up for your SMSV membership, please be informed that there will be another membership recruitment drive at the Freshies Gathering in Melbourne.

The MOHH Pre–Employment Grant is open for application from 2nd January 2012 to 5th February 2012 23:59 (GMT +8:00).

Please refer to the  PEG Website for further information and online application.

For further queries, please email: pre.employment.grant@mohh.com.sg

About the Pre-Employment Grant (PEG)

The PEG has been designed as a financial incentive to attract more Singaporean students studying medicine overseas to return to Singapore.

The grant will be offered mid-course and cover up to 60% of the remaining years of tuition fees, capped at $40,000 per year up to a maximum grant of $80,000. Singaporean students studying in an overseas medical school recognised by the Singapore Medical Council will be eligible to apply. The selection will be based on merit. Students should possess good grades in their medical studies, especially in their clinical training years. Students are also required to undergo an oral interview with Senior Clinicians from the restructured hospitals and MOH Holdings.

Recipients of the grant will be required to serve in the hospital clusters for a minimum period. Students receiving a one-year grant will serve in the hospital clusters for three years, while those receiving a two-year grant will serve for four years. The service period will include the one-year housemanship which is served locally.

SMSV will be holding a predeparture gathering for all undergraduate and postgraduate medical students starting their medical course in Monash University and University of Melbourne.

Date: 19th January 2012
Time: 7pm
Location: Casa Esperanza, Function Room
997 Bukit Timah Road

Participants will be able to:

1. Meet fellow coursemates and obtain advice from current medical students studying in Australia,

2. Learn how SMSV can help them in their study in Australia,

3. Sign up for SMSV membership,

4. Obtain a copy of Survival Guide to Studying Medicine in Australia prepared by SMSV.

Participants are encouraged to RSVP by 13th January to yiliang.zheng@smsv.sg so that adequate copies of the survival guide will be prepared.

Please click here for the facebook event.

SMSV looks forward to seeing you there!

From the 12th December to 23rd December, 13 SMSV members took part in a 2 week long attachment program at one of India’s best hospitals- the Christian Medical College, Vellore. Each student was attached to a team of doctors across several departments, namely cardiology, internal medicine, obstetrician and gynecology, Community health and the various surgical specialties. Some activities the participants took part in included outpatient clinical sessions, ward rounds, and OT.

With the trip targeted mainly at pre-clinical students, the exposure gave many of the participants a taste of what clinical years had to offer. However, the experience did not just stop there for some participants- some of the participants even had a hand in delivering babies, and it wasn’t uncommon to be allowed to scrub in on surgeries either!

Most of the participants also experienced what community health in Vellore was like, which was an eye opener. Some participants got a chance to witness how antenatal care was offered to the villagers, and even participated in the process! The session offered great insight, and perhaps, comparison with rural healthcare’s district nursing services in Australia.

Amongst everything else, this trip was a great chance to embrace what India has to offer! From the great food, to abundant shopping opportunities to its picturesque street scenes, India was truly, incredible.

Date: 9th January 2012
Time: 2pm – 5pm
Venue: NUSS Guild House
#05-001 Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard
Singapore 038983

Dress Code

Ladies: Dress, Blouse, Skirt, Pants, Collared T-shirts, with proper shoes or covered sandals

Men : Shirt with collar or mandarin collar with sleeves including sweaters, proper trousers and covered shoes.

Please note that registration is required to attend the pre-departure briefing. Due to the scale of the event, students are encouraged to bring only one guest along for the pre-departure briefing.

Click here for further information and registration.

Dear Members and Mailing List Subscribers,

SMSV is proud to bring you an overseas hospital attachment with St Stephen’s Hospital at New Delhi this holidays. St Stephen’s Hospital is a 600-bed tertiary care hospital offering care in all specialties.

More information with regard to St Stephen Hospital can be obtained from here

The attachment will take place from the 6th December to 16th December 2011.

The cost of the trip will be 140 euros excluding airfare. Participants are expected to arrange for their own air tickets.

Please sign up with the form attached below and we will get back to you. Please note that applications close on 11th November 2011.

This coming January 2012, SMSV is organising a trip to Bharatpur Teaching Hospital in Bharatpur, Nepal to provide assistance to their staff in their screening and clinical examinations of rural communities. This will take the form of rural health camps and the aid of medical students will be needed to screen and examine the heavy patient load at these camps. Pre-clinical students will be aiding in more rudimentary examinations such as BP and basic general clinical examinations, while clinical students will be given the opportunity to take patient histories and conduct examinations with a view to forming a diagnosis before a local doctor sees the patient. Students will be paired 2:1 with Nepalese medical students for the sake of translation and to learn from each other.

A tour as well as teaching sessions will also be organised by the hospital to familiarise students with the medical examination conducted routinely in Nepal. Visits to local places of interest in Bharatpur will also feature in the itinerary, in between health camps. A rural health camp in neighbouring picturesque Pokhara could feature in the itinerary as well. After 14 January when the official itinerary ends, participants may choose to continue travelling instead of returning to Singapore.

The dates of the trip will be from 3 to 14 January 2012 and participants are expected to apply for their own visas as well as get the relevant vaccinations. Note that Nepal will be in the midst of winter during that period and participants are advised to pack sufficient warm clothing.

Accommodation will be in Bharatpur Global Hotel (800rs per night), and students are responsible for paying for their own meals (which is estimated to cost ~300rs per meal). The overall budget is estimated to be as follows:
Return Airfare: $1000
Accommodation: $150
Meals: $120
Ground Transport from Kathmandu to Bharatpur and back: $50
Administrative Fee: $30
VISA
Vaccinations
Total budget is expected to be around $1500.
All currency is stated in Australian Dollars.

The main objectives of the trip are to
1) Assist the staff with screening and clinical examinations of rural health communities
2) To inspire and expose participants to humanitarian missions and encourage them to continue doing such work in the future
3) To identify and develop an effective referral system linked with Bharatpur Teaching Hospital

Please register for the trip with the form attached below by 7th November. Successful applicants will be notified by email.

Dear Singaporean Medical Student,

Summer attachments at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital are now available! Are you interested in getting some clinical experience at this new hospital? Apply now and don’t miss out on this excellent opportunity!

KTPH has the following departments available for clinical attachments (subject to availability of supervisors for the respective dates):

Medicine (includes the Medical subspecialties)
Surgery
Geriatrics
Radiology
Family Medicine
Eye
ENT
Orthopaedics (only able to take in Dec 2011/Jan 2012)

Note:
Maximum of 2 students per week per department will be allocated.

Students applying for KTPH attachments must supplement their application with a photocopy of their passport, and the following documents for the application to be considered:

1) indemnity form
2) application form
3) letter of external undertaking

These documents will be emailed to you after receiving your application with passport photocopy.
They should be submitted to yunyuan.mah@smsv.sg within 5 days of receiving this email.
Please apply by 23 October 2011 to allow time for the Hospital to make allocations.

Also applying for an attachment implies commitment towards attending the attachment if you are successful. If you fail to attend the attachment without valid reason, SMSV may put you in lesser priority for future events.
SMSV members will be given priority if there is a shortage of spaces.
Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be informed by email.
For additional enquiries please email YY at yunyuan.mah@smsv.sg

SMSV regrets to inform you that applications have been closed. We look forward to assisting you again in applying for attachments in 2012.

This November, we are looking for 10-12 enthusiastic medical students to join a team of Singaporean doctors and healthcare professionals in a trip to Nepal to conduct health camps aimed at helping Nepalese with little access to healthcare. It will also be a great opportunity for medical students to experience healthcare and volunteerism in the rural setting in a developing country, under the guidance of experienced doctors. Both clinical and pre-clinical students are welcome to apply.

Dates: 18th November 740am to 26th November

Budget: $1100 (estimated), up to $1300 for Pokhara participants

Thai Airways round-trip fare= $1000

VISA = $20

Administrative fee = $30

Accomodation in Kathmandu = $50

Food and lodging (at campsite) are covered. Internal flight to Pokhara may not be covered, the airfare is estimated to cost up to $200.

All currency is stated in Australian Dollars.

Health camps will be conducted in 2 areas, in the Namo Buda Monastery situated 2 hours drive away from Kathmandu, and in Pokhara which requires a 1 hour internal flight along with a 1 hour drive to the actual site of the health camp. The activities that participants will be involved in will include helping the doctors with triage of the patients, such as measuring of BP and BSLs and including a basic health screen, as well as helping with the dispensing of medications. Clinical and pre-clinical students will be sorted equally into both camps in order to ensure a balanced distribution of resources, so even though we will try our best to respect participants’ choices, there is no guarantee participants will get their first choice. More information on each health camp is shown in the tentative itinerary below.

Dear Singaporean Medical Student,

Do you intend to gain some clinical experience over the summer holidays? Why not apply for an attachment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital to learn more about the healthcare system in Singapore? SMSV is once again bringing summer attachments in Singaporean hospitals to you.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital has the following departments available for clinical attachments (subject to availability of supervisors for the respective dates):

-General surgery
-General medicine+
-Rheumatology
-Trauma surgery
-ENT
-Infectious Diseases
-Cardiology
-Diagnostic Radiology
-Endocrinology
-Respiratory Medicine
-Geriatric Medicine
-Orthopaedic surgery**

Note:
+ General Medicine will only accept students in their clinical years.
** The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery has requested that applicants submit a write-up regarding their interest in Orthopaedic Surgery with their application.

Students applying for TTSH attachments must supplement their application with the following documents for the application to be considered :

1. Completed application form with a passport sized photo (we will email the form out to you after receiving all the other documents 2-5)
2. Proof of enrolment from the university (can be purchased from student services centre)
3. Document proof of valid health insurance
4. Document proof of valid malpractice insurance cover/ professional indemnity for duration of attachment (can apply online at your respective medical student health insurance). (eg. MIPS, Avant)
5. Photocopy of your student ID

These documents should be submitted to ma.jun@smsv.sg within 5 days of your application.

Other things to take note:
Please apply by the end of 30th September 2011 to allow time for the Hospital to make allocations.

Also applying for an attachment implies commitment towards attending the attachment if you are successful.
If you fail to attend the attachment without valid reason, SMSV may put you in lesser priority for future events.
SMSV members will be given priority if there is a shortage of spaces.
Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be informed by email.
For additional enquiries please email Ma Jun at ma.jun@smsv.sg

SMSV regrets to inform you that applications are now closed. We look forward to assist in your application next year.