ABSTRACT
The Medical College Union (MCU) was formed in 1922 to encourage and promote comrade-ship and public spirit amongst the students of King Edward VII College of Medicine. The Medical College Union Society was founded and held its first meeting on 31 July 1936. However, the Annual Report for 1940-42 made no reference to the Society at all and it was hence considered to cease to exist as an official body. The Medical Society (Medsoc), headed by Mr Goon Sek Mun, was formed in 1949 and it organised various activities and events for the faculty. Some of these are still being held annually today, with the addition of several others and phasing out of some. These were organised by the individual subgroups in the Medical society, like the Social, Welfare, Sports and Publications committees. The Medsoc also acts as the students’ voice in conveying their opinions to the administration and the Dean. With the expected advent of a new medical school in Singapore – a postgraduate one in the Outram Campus, the medical student community in Singapore will only get larger. There should be a role for Medsoc to foster closer ties between the student communities.
On 3 July 1905, the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School was started with the objective of training the local men and women to become Assistant Surgeons and General Practitioners. After a petition set out by the Chinese and non-European communities to the then Governor of the Straits Settlement, Sir John Anderson KCMG, and funds were successfully raised, the first Medical School formally opened on 28 September 1905. The School’s initial enrolment was 23 students, and it offered courses in medicine, surgery and midwifery.
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