Aimen Ismail, MS-2
Medical Student Enrichment Program
Summer 2011
Singapore, Singapore
History and Commerce
•Urbanized city-state off the southern tip of the Malay peninsula
•One of the four “Asian Tiger” countries
•World’s fourth leading financial center
•World’s top five busiest port
•World’s top three oil refining center
•World’s second biggest casino gambling market
•Fourth largest foreign exchange trading center after NY, London, and Tokyo
•“Easiest place in the world to do business” according to the World Bank
Culture and Religion
•Population of around 5 million, with 2.9 million born locally
•Fertility rate is 1.1 child/woman
•Three ethnic groups: Chinese (74%), Malay (13%), and South Indian (9%)
•Official languages: English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil
•1/3 of Singaporeans are Buddhist, most of them Chinese
•Christianity>Islam>Taoism>Hinduism
Education and Research
•Educational stages: primary (6 yrs), secondary (4-5 yrs), pre-university (2-3 yrs)
•Two prestigious public universities: Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and
National University of Singapore (NUS) 34th in the world and 4th in Asia,
according to the Times
•Singapore Biomedical Sciences Initiative launched in 2000 to establish Biomedical
Sciences as pillar of economy
http://www.a-star.edu.sg/
Healthcare
•6th in the world according to WHO’S last ranking of world healthcare systems in 2000
•Life expectancy 83 for women and 79 for men
•Universal healthcare system in which government ensures affordability through compulsory savings (payroll deductions) and price controls, while care is provided by
private sector
•Supplemental insurance also provided by employers
•Medical tourism hub: 200,000 foreigners seek care each year goal is one million
foreign patients by 2012
http://www.dsppaglobal.com/projectinfo.asp?newsid=24
http://whatareyoudoingbooboo.blogspot.com/2009/12/singapore-general-hospital.html
My Experience
Preparation
•Had wanted to visit for years
•Beginning in November 2010, began emailing faculty at the Cancer Sciences
Institute and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
•After finding a mentor, started preparing application for Training Employment
Permit for Ministry of Manpower
•No special vaccinations needed
•Found funding at UAB  MSEP and CaRES program
http://cooper.edu/architecture/faculty2/peter-schubert/peter-schubert-duke-nus-graduate-medical-school/
Accommodation
•Lived off campus in a (very) small studio apartment available for short-term lease
•Fully furnished with bed, desk, bookshelf, fridge, washing machine, dryer, microwave,
toaster, television, hotplate, and cooking and eating utensils
•Adjacent to MRT station (20 minute train ride and 10 minute walk to work)
•Whopping 1300 USD per month
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KBG_PLAT.JPG
Food and Transport Expenses
•Abundance of food options
•Pizza Hut, Subway, McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Auntie Annie’s, etc…
•Spent about 400 USD/month on food and groceries
•Two transport options: MRT or taxi
•Spent about 80 USD/month on transport
THUS, total expenses so far: 1300 + 400 + 80 = 1780 USD /month on just rent,
food and transport
Sightseeing
SINGAPORE– tourism is huge part of
economy
MALAYSIA
•Singapore Zoo
•Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers and
KL Tower
•Singapore Bird Park
•Putrajaya, administrative capital
•Universal Studios Singapore
•Genting Highlands
•Broadway’s traveling Lion King Musical
•Cameron Highlands
•Singapore flyer
•LANGKAWI!!
•Marina Bay Sands
•Malls, malls, and malls! Lots of
European designer brands
•Myriad signature restaurants and places
to relax by the sea
Singapore
Malaysia, Truly Asia