As an internist, you will be exposed to a wide variety of medical conditions in adults, ranging from challenging undifferentiated presentations to organ-specific conditions. You will be handling multiple facets of patient care from acute care in the hospital to chronic disease management in the outpatient setting. The internist also provides holistic care which is especially pertinent in these times, with the aging population.

Internal medicine is the foundation upon which the medical subspecialties develop. Those trained in internal medicine can consider further sub-specialization in the following: cardiology, critical care medicine, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatric medicine, haematology / transfusion medicine, infectious diseases, medical oncology, neurology, nuclear medicine, palliative medicine, rehabilitation medicine, renal medicine, respiratory medicine, and rheumatology.

In addition to career advancement in the medical disciplines, the internist, through active participation in research and teaching activities, has the option of developing a career in research or medical education.

Resident's Talk

NHG-AHPL Internal Medicine from NHG Residency on Vimeo.

Training the next generation of internists            

We are a fully accredited program and fully complied with ACGME International Foundational and Advanced Specialty Requirements – we had no citation in the recent ACGME International accreditation exercise.

 “The Review Committee lauded the (NHG Internal Medicine Residency Program) program’s thoughtful and thorough application with well formulated competency milestones.”

Dr William E. Rodak, Ph.D.
Vice President
International Accreditation
ACGME International

Strengths of Program   

The NHG Internal Medicine Residency Program is an exciting, integrated and comprehensive program designed to provide you with the training, experience and resources for a wide range of career paths, including careers in subspecialty clinical practice and academic medicine.

Our distinguished teaching faculty from Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, National Neuroscience Institute, National Skin Centre and National Cancer Centre as well as long history of teaching excellence will ensure that you receive outstanding training, optimal supervision and guidance. This will be done in a supportive environment that fosters evidence-based medicine and critical decision-making skills in patient care. Tan Tock Seng Hospital, our main teaching hospital, was voted Best Teaching Hospital for two years running by undergraduates from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.

Our hospitals have a strong tradition in General Internal Medicine and a wide range of medicine sub-specialties, offering a state-of-the-art environment for both patient care and learning. With the largest General Medicine department and the most established Geriatric Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology departments in Singapore within our teaching hospital, you have abundant opportunities to learn with a good case mix of patients.  Our collaboration with the National Centres gives you the opportunity to learn and work under the specialists in Neurology, Dermatology and Medical Oncology.

Overview of the Program   

 The Internal Medicine Residency Program is a common trunk training program which prepares you for advance training or fellowship in the following 15 medical specialties: cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatric medicine, haematology / transfusion medicine, infectious diseases, internal medicine, medical oncology, nuclear medicine, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, renal medicine, respiratory medicine and rheumatology.

If you are a new graduate when you join the residency, the residency begins with broad-based training which includes compulsory postings in general medicine and general surgery or orthopaedic surgery. This is to comply with Singapore Medical Council’s (SMC) licensing requirements. If you are fully licensed upon joining our program, you need not rotate through the surgical posting.

The total duration of the Internal Medicine Residency Program is 36 months, beginning from July in the first year and ending at the end of June three years later. However, depending on the time of your graduation and/or the posting exercise, you may join the sponsoring institution before the start date of the program. For example, if you are assigned by Ministry of Health Holdings to start work in May, you will join the sponsoring institution in May and start residency in July.

Experiential Learning   

There are many valuable learning opportunities through exposure and rotations through the medical subspecialties and emergency medicine. To ensure that you learn the essentials of Internal Medicine, there are specified core postings which you must complete by the end of the residency program and a list of elective postings which you may choose from.

The core postings for all Internal Medicine residents are:

There will be opportunity for a few of the following elective postings:

Note:
TTSH – Tan Tock Seng Hospital
KTPH – Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
NNI – National Neuroscience Institute
NSC – National Skin Centre
NCC – National Cancer Centre
JHMI – John Hopkins Singapore International Medical Centre

Teaching Activities

•  Departmental Teaching
  •  Teaching ward round, department-specific teaching
  •  Conferences Clinico-pathology conferences, topic reviews etc.

• Common Curricular Teaching
  • Teaching which applies to all clinical disciplines e.g. internal medicine, general surgery, emergency medicine and psychiatric medicine.
    

• Internal Medicine-specific Teaching
  • Subspecialty Modular Teaching: Case-based teaching using case scenarios to illustrate and teach important topics and issues for each specialty
    
  • Examination-related Teaching: Picture slide quizzes and PACES teaching to prepare the residents for the MRCP examination, which remains as the intermediary examination for the residency program until further notice 
  • Others: Program Director’s Round, Journal Club, Combined Case Discussion between Tan Tock Seng and Khoo Teck Puat Hospitals 
    

Resources

 Besides the clinical resources, we also provide:

•  E-Learning modules/courses
• Electronic Learning Management System - Blackboard
• E-resources – electronic library, examination-related resources, computerized patient support system, computerized clinician order entry system
• Access to UK and USA-based study materials e.g. MRCP examination practice papers, MKSAP, MedStudy, Exam Master    
• Access to the hospital library
• Access to books which are relevant to clinical practice in Internal Medicine through the Residency library
• Personal Training Fund for relevant courses, purchase of books, etc    

Faculty Members

For further information, please contact:  

Program Director

A/Prof Koh Nien Yue

E-mail: Nien_Yue_Koh@ttsh.com.sg

Associate Program Directors

Dr Adrian Liew

E-mail: Adrian_Liew@ttsh.com.sg

Dr Ranjana Acharya

E-mail: Ranjana_Acharya@ttsh.com.sg

Dr Goh Kian Peng

E-mail: Goh.Kian.Peng@alexandrahealth.com.sg

Dr Mark Chan Peng Chew

E-mail: Peng_Chew_Chan@ttsh.com.sg

Program Coodinator

Ms Selvia Kosim

E-mail: Selvia_Kosim@nhg.com.sg

Ms Isabel Zee

E-mail: Isabel_Yl_Zee@nhg.com.sg

Frequently Asked Questions:

What does common trunk training mean?

This means that the Internal Medicine Residency Program provides the common basic training, which is the pre-requisite for the fellowship program for all the listed medical specialties, including Dermatology.  

What are the differences between traditional Internal Medicine BST and Residency?   

What is graded responsibility?

The resident will be expected to handle increasing specified responsibilities and ACGME competencies as they progress through the residency years, and residents will be assessed accordingly.

What if I need career guidance?

The resident can seek advice from the core faculty, the program director or the associate program director. Each resident will also have a mentor who will advise and guide the resident through the residency years.

How does this program prepare us for life as a first year resident?

There are various teaching activities within the program which are geared towards equipping the resident with skills to handle the day-to-day clinical work. In addition, the junior resident will be supervised by the senior resident, advance trainee or fellow, and the senior staff. The faculty is also available for consult should the resident encounter difficulties.

Download

[Click on the image above to download the Internal Medicine residency program brochure.]