NUS: YLLSoM
Get to know a little bit about what Medsku life is like at NUSMedicine.
NUS Medicine Mediverse (Open House 2023)
What is the timetable of student at YLL like?
Medical school timetable differs significantly every week but to generalise it, a typical week of a M1 student will look something like this:
Overview
NUS now runs a Blended Learning Approach where students get recorded lectures to watch before interactive lessons/case discussions/tutorials. They are made available on NUS Medicine's own learning management system, nicely organised into timeslots so students can plan their time better. Some reserved time for personal development (such as meeting house mentors and house activities) is also set in the timetable. Click on the underlined titles to view NUS Medicine's page for more details.
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Instead of calling students by year, NUS Medicine identifies students by Phase, i.e. Phase I meaning Year 1. The overview will focus on Phase 1 information. For more information on other Phases and a macro-view of the 5 years at NUS Medicine, visit this site.
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NUS Common Curriculum for Healthcare Professional Education [NEW SYLLABUS FROM AY23/24]
Pillars Lessons are part of the NUS Common Curriculum for Healthcare Professional Education. Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, and Pharmacy students will be grouped into different groups to participate in Pillars Lessons together, fostering stronger understanding and collaboration between the different healthcare faculty. For example, under the Longitudinal Patient Experience (LPE) programme, students will carry out home visits and community walks to more holistically understand a patient's health journey.
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Pillar 1: Social and Behavioural Determinants of Health
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Pillar 2: Professional Practice 1
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Pillar 3: Professional Practice 2
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Pillar 4: Data Literacy for Healthcare
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Pillar 5: Digital Literacy for Healthcare
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Foundations of Clinical Practice Programme (FCP)
Under this programme, there is Communication with Patients (CWP), History Clinical Reasoning (HCR) and Physical Examination (PE).
Generally, there is earlier clinical involvement from the new syllabus in AY23/24. One month into medical school, M1s went for their first General Practitioner (GP) attachment as part of FCP. There are regular (monthly) CWP lectures and tutorials where students practise history-taking and interpersonal skills with Simulated Patients (SPs) - simulating ourselves as doctors during a consultation. Later in the year, students get to practice their illness scripts in the History Clinical Reasoning (HCP) programme and get exposed to physical examination procedures. As part of FCP, students get to attach to a GP Clinic, polyclinic and hospital. Every alternate month, students will have 3 attachments in that same month (GP, Polyclinic and Hospital).
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Minor in Biomedical Informatics [NEW SYLLABUS FROM AY23/24]
The Minor consists of five courses, two of which - Digital Literacy in Healthcare and Data Literacy in Healthcare - are embedded within the NUS Common Curriculum for Healthcare Professional Education.
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Digital Literacy in Healthcare (part of the NUS Common Curriculum for Healthcare Professional Education)
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Data Literacy in Healthcare (part of the NUS Common Curriculum for Healthcare Professional Education)
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Value-based Healthcare
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Clinical Data System Design Testing and Governance
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Introduction to Medical Data and Data Processing
For AY23/24, upon completion of the 1st Professional Examinations (Finals), there is a 1-week break before students embark on 1.5 weeks of Minor in BMI. This minor is newly introduced in AY23/24 and students will graduate with MBBS and a Minor in BMI.
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Disclaimer: The information written above is from current medical students’ experiences. Due to possible curriculum changes, we cannot guarantee that all the information stated will hold true for future batches. Hence, we encourage you to participate in official tea sessions held by the medical schools to obtain more updated information!
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What is a typical tutorial session like?
Small Group Tutorials are usually in small groups of about 3 Clinical Groups (CGs). You usually have tutorials with the same few CGs. That is about 42 students, taught by 1 tutor in a small classroom. There are usually tutorial questions that you need to complete before attending class and the tutor will go through the questions and value add to the discussions but asking more thought-provoking questions.
Other than tutorials, we also have large case discussions, small group case discussions and Collaborative Learning Cases (CLCs). As their name suggest, they are largely similar to tutorials but they have a greater emphasis on clinical cases and the tutor will usually ask more questions and request CGs to display their thought process/mindmap/drawing on a whiteboard.
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How do I prepare for school?
Preparation for tutorial
Familiarise yourself with the content covered during the tutorial and complete questions in the tutorial handouts. Tutors will usually dedicate 10-15 minutes for you to ask any questions you have even if it is not directly related to the tutorial.
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Preparation for Collaborative Learning Cases (CLCs)
Timetable has allocated 15 minutes before the actual CLCs for you to complete the pre-CLC quiz. Similar to tutorials, it is beneficial to familiarise yourself with the content covered and read beyond the theory and think about differentials, symptoms and approaches.
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Honestly, some cases covered can be quite complicated and beyond the expected knowledge of an M1. Hence it will be good enough to just know the key terms and content that will be covered.
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Preparation for tutorials with Simulated Patients/Physical Examinations Procedures
For tutorials with SPs, you probably need to revise your history-taking content and questions to ask. For system-specific history taking, you may need to revise the crucial red flags and relevant questions to ask. Physical Examinations are usually taught by an experienced simulated patient and a tutor. You need to watch the Physical Examination procedures videos and familiarise yourself with the steps. Lastly, bring along your equipment such as a stethoscope and do not forget your white coat!
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NUS Medicine Live Simulation Session (peek of a full simulation session)
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Clinical Attachments
There will be specific learning outcomes stated in the handout for you to expect what you will be doing at the hospital/polyclinic/GP clinic. For the most part, it will be quite chill. You just need to make sure you present with formal attire and bring along your white coat!
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Examinations
There will be a post-CLC quiz which must be done within 1 day of the CLC. This can be counted towards 5% of your grade in M1. The quiz helps check if the CLC has helped you clarify any misunderstandings and key concepts the school wants you to know.
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Most people start studying for CAs/Professional Exams about 1 month before the exam. Some study by flashcards, some by their notes and some by doing past year questions.
What are the examinations like?
NUS medical examinations are both Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Modified Essay Questions (MEQs) usually back to back (if not on two different days). It is done digitally using Examplify. Your computer will be controlled and locked down by Examplify. You will lose internet connection, free navigation and the ability to return to the previous question (in MEQs).
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You will know your grades as Pass/Fail/Distinction. No marks will be directly made known, but you can see your proficiency (in %) in answering the questions. Before the examinations, there are Formative Assessments (FAs) that serve as non-graded practice questions.
What is the YLL campus like?
Most medical students will admit they feel quite separated from other NUS students because we mostly only jump around the same few Medicine buildings.
Medicine buildings such as MD6 and MD1 are hot spots for lectures, tutorials and Communication with Patients (CWP) tutorials. We are quite blessed to have rather new buildings that are modern and well-maintained.
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Medicine Buildings
MD6
Almost everything happens here
Lectures, tutorials, CWP tutorials, CBLs... There are lecture halls, tutorial rooms and simulation rooms here.
MD1
Wet/Dry Lab, House Rooms
Almost all practicals happen here. Importantly, House rooms are here for you to use to study, chill and game! (Exams are also held here...)
MD10
Anatomy Hall
The Anatomy Hall is where we go for Anatomy lessons. Thanks to the generous hearts of our Silent Mentors, NUS Medicine students get to learn anatomy through real bodies.
Frontier Canteen
Where everyone goes for lunch!
The nearest canteen to MD6, MD1, everyone pretty much goes to Frontier for their caffeine fix and lunch.
How does campus housing work for NUSMed students?
Generally speaking, hostel services are STANDARDISED across NUS students. The only exception is for those who stay at Residential Colleges (RCs).
Instead of having to take all of the mandatory modules at RCs such as senior and junior seminars, medicine students only have to take 2 (1 senior and 1 junior seminar)
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One of the more popular hostel options are Houses (Lighthouse, Pioneer House, Helix House) because there is no mandated activities requirements such as CCAs, block/floor event. However, this is not to say medicine students completely avoid Halls and RCs. Many M1 stays at Halls and RCs will try to take up as many CCAs and participate actively in activities to secure their 2nd year stay too.