Senior Consultant
Department of Rheumatology and Immunology
Singapore General Hospital
Research Director and Director
Health Services Research Unit
Singapore General Hospital
Advisor
SingHealth Centre for Population Health Research and Implementation
Professor
Office of Clinical and Faculty Affairs and Health Services and Systems Research Duke-NUS Medical School
Adjunct Professor
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
National University of Singapore
“For his outstanding contributions in guiding and mentoring clinicians and researchers, imparting knowledge, and instilling compassion, commitment, integrity, and a passion to learn.”
The filmmaker Steven Spielberg once said, “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.”
That is exactly what Professor Julian Thumboo has been doing and beyond. Besides medical and PhD students, he has supervised and mentored doctors training in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine as well as budding clinician-scientists and clinician-researchers, amongst many others.
In particular, Prof Thumboo, who was Head of the Department of Rheumatology & Immunology at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) from 2007 to 2014, has mentored a generation of rheumatologists. Some mentees have become mentors themselves, just as Prof Thumboo was inspired by his own mentors to become one. One such mentee, Associate Professor Andrea Low, currently helms the Department of Rheumatology & Immunology at SGH. Others have taken on senior positions in public healthcare institutions or private practice or are making significant contributions in their respective fields of research.
To ensure there are proper structures and environment to facilitate mentoring, Prof Thumboo initiated several programmes at the national and institution levels, such as the SingHealth Nurturing Clinician Researcher Scheme, benefitting more than those he mentored personally over the years.
The successes of his mentees is a reflection of Prof Thumboo’s passion in helping and guiding individuals to fulfil their greatest potential. He believes that there is no success without a successor, and mentoring juniors helps mentors leave behind a legacy.
One of his mentees is SGH’s Associate Professor Low Lian Leng, who took over as Director of SingHealth’s Centre for Population Health Research and Implementation this year from Prof Thumboo, and is a recipient of the National Medical Research Council Health Promotion, Preventive Health, Population Health and Health Services Research Clinician Scientist Award. A/Prof Low describes Prof Thumboo as a dedicated, nurturing, and gentle mentor who devotes time to developing his mentees. By observing how Prof Thumboo conducted himself as a researcher and managed a large research centre and his collaborative leadership, A/Prof Low has learnt immensely and is now not only an independent researcher, but a clinician leader too.
Prof Thumboo’s passion for mentoring has been recognised by the accolades he has received. Some of his recent awards include the National Day Award – Public Administration Medal (Bronze), SingHealth Excellence Award for Distinguished Mentor, and Duke-NUS Medical School Master Academic Clinician.
Prof Thumboo is also a keen researcher, having published more than 330 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and receiving several million dollars in individual grant funding. He also helped to secure $20 million in grant funding for SGH, and $21 million for the SingHealth Regional Health System in his role as Research Director of these organisaitons. His research interests are in population health, patient reported outcome measures, systemic lupus erythematosus and osteoarthritis.
For his outstanding contributions in guiding and mentoring clinicians and researchers, imparting knowledge and instilling compassion, commitment, integrity, and a passion to learn, Professor Julian Thumboo is awarded the National Outstanding Clinician Mentor Award 2023.
NATIONAL OUTSTANDING CLINICIAN EDUCATOR AWARD 2023
Associate Professor Nigel Tan Choon Kiat (陈俊杰)
Senior Consultant
Department of Neurology
National Neuroscience Institute
Group Director Education (Undergraduate)
SingHealth
Associate Dean
MD Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School
“For his tireless dedication and leadership in advancing the education and training of clinicians in Singapore and internationally.”
Associate Professor Nigel Tan is an epilepsy neurologist, whose diverse contributions to medical education have impacted individuals and organisations at the institutional, cluster, national and international levels.
A/Prof Tan is a natural teacher who is known for his infectious enthusiasm and for creating effective learning environments in clinical or classroom settings. His interest in medical education started as a neurology registrar and he continues to teach medical students from all three medical schools in Singapore and residents from SingHealth and National Healthcare Group in the wards and clinics. He has promoted active learning through effective teaching methods, fair assessment, and by providing actionable feedback.
A/Prof Tan was appointed Education Director of the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) from 2011 to 2018. Recognising the need for formal training of education leaders, he led by example and graduated with a Master of Health Professions Education in 2013. A/Prof Tan has consistently applied his educational training to the creation of education programmes, strengthening of education systems to improve quality, and the development of fellow educators from all health professions. He also continues to mentor junior educators.
As Group Director of Education (Undergraduate) for SingHealth since 2018, A/Prof Tan led an interprofessional committee to conceptualise the Educator Development Framework. This interprofessional framework provides guidance for all healthcare educators across the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (AMC) to grow and develop as educators, specifying roles, competencies and development opportunities. With Professor Fernando Bello from Duke-NUS Medical School, he also co-developed a Certificate in Technology-Enhanced Learning in 2021 for SingHealth Duke-NUS AMC, when such learning became important during the COVID-19 pandemic as a means of quickly upskilling faculty in technology-enhanced learning.
At the national level, A/Prof Tan served on the Neurology Residency Advisory Committee (RAC) from 2013 to 2018. As RAC Examination Chair, he initiated and led an evidence-based overhaul of the national Neurology Exit Examination, successfully implementing the new examination format in 2015. With the introduction of the important concept of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) by the MOH in 2018, A/Prof Tan then led a national workgroup that successfully designed, piloted, and implemented neurology EPAs for neurology senior residencies in Singapore. These initiatives required significant education and change management expertise, a testament to A/Prof Tan’s knowledge and leadership skills.
Internationally, A/Prof Tan co-leads the Genetic Literacy Taskforce of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), which is the global organisation for epilepsy neurologists. He conceptualised the ILAE Genetic Literacy Series, aimed at educating fellow neurologists about epilepsy genetics, using evidence-based techniques to enhance learning. By coordinating content and writing with international teams of authors, his efforts have led to nine publications in the series that have been well-received, with international readership and global impact.
As a believer of a scholarly approach to education, A/Prof Tan has 22 education publications, focusing on assessment, clinical reasoning and interprofessional education, and collaboration. These publications were co-authored with broad groups of authors across the three healthcare clusters, MOH, the three medical schools, and with international co-authors, attesting to his ability to collaborate with diverse groups in the pursuit of education scholarship. He has also received four awards for his education research, as well as awards in Singapore and internationally for his teaching.
A/Prof Tan is also a respected clinician and epilepsy neurologist, continuing to care for epilepsy and neurology patients. He has served on the council of the Singapore Medical Association and continues to serve on committees of the ILAE to advance patient care. He continues to actively publish as a clinician, having another 42 neurology or medicine biomedical research publications.
For his tireless dedication and leadership in advancing the education and training of clinicians in Singapore and internationally, Associate Professor Nigel Tan is awarded the National Outstanding Clinician Educator Award 2023.