Venice is one of the legendary cities of the world. Its beauty and physical setting make Venice unique. For almost 800 years, from 1000 AD to 1797, the Venetians were a separate people. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Mr Koh Yong Guan, guest-of-honour; Dr Tan Ser Kiat, Master, Academy of Medicine; Dr K C Tan, Chairman, Chapter of Surgeons; Dr Robert Jalleh from Malaysia; Dr Idral Darwis from Indonesia; Dr P B Chacha, my esteemed partner; Dr John Isaac, Master of Ceremonies; fellow academicians, practitioners and friends,...

It was in 1994 that as an overseas fellow of the College, I received a letter from Dr Peter Toghill, Director of Continuing Medical Education (CME), Royal College of Physicians of London, stating that the three Royal Colleges of Physicians in the UK have agreed to joint recommendation on...

Today is a day of rejoicing for all of you, graduates, parents, relatives and loved ones. I can share in your joy and also a sense of relief that you have passed the first and for some, the second professional exam in your career. This article is available only as...

The last two decades have witnessed dramatic changes in the understanding of gastric cancer: a rapid decline in global incidence, its association with Helicobacter pylori gastritis, and the new information regarding its molecular biology. Nevertheless, gastric cancer remains the second commonest cancer in the world in terms of morbidity...

I have chosen as the title of my keynote address “New Treatment and Research Strategies for the Improvement of the Care of Cleft Lip and Palate Patients”. The reason for this is that despite the tremendous strides we have made over the past 50 years in the management of...

The outlook for sufferers of severe head trauma is extremely poor. Some 20% of patients died before significant treatment can be administered, and nearly one quarter of patients end in a vegetative state with little potential for further progress. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

The tremendous interest in finding new anti-aggregating agents stems from the preeminent role that platelets play, not only in haemostasis and thrombosis, but also in atherogenesis and, be it less definitive, in arterial spasm. Compelling data from large-scale trials have established the role of platelet inhibitors in reducing coronary...

It is indeed a great honour for me to be named the third Yahya Cohen lecturer and I would like to express my deepest thanks and appreciation to the Academy of Medicine Singapore for having selected me for this award. At this lecture, I would like to share with...

The legacy of caring and humanitarianism has been the mission of the medical profession since the founding of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. To this small fishing village in the Riau Archipelago on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula came traders and entrepreneurs from China, India...

Although debridement of portions of liver that prolapsed through war wounds was recorded from distant times, attempts at resection of a solid liver tumour were first reported in the latter part of the 19th century. When one considers the enormous challenges faced by surgeons of the time, without the...

The interpretation of cancer as a somatic evolutionary process involving genetic mutation followed by selection, goes back to the early years of this century. Boveri’s hypothesis put forward in 1914 that cancer was associated with abnormalities of the chromosomes and Tyzzer and Strong’s experiments of transplantable tumours in 1916...

Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Datuk Dr Yeoh Poh Hong, Dr Chee Yam Cheng, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply honoured to be invited to deliver the 14th Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration, following in the footsteps of previous illustrious speakers. I am particularly honoured that you...

From the time of recorded history of medicine, the doctor whether he be the ancient healer or the modern medical practitioner, the doctor had practised the art and science, on the basis of curing the patient when he has an illness. The doctor is sought out when the patient...

Metastatic spread is the principal reason of treatment failure in solid tumours. Surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy have not manifestly altered the prognosis for metastatic tumours. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

I am delighted to share this celebratory occasion with you. It is a time for congratulations all round not only to our new Fellows but also to their families and friends. No specialist trains by himself. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

I count myself fortunate to be allowed to join the ranks of the Academy. On behalf of my fellow inductees, may I extend a word of thanks for this honour. Thank you, also, for allowing me the privilege of delivering this Reply. This article is available only as a PDF....

First, let me warmly welcome you to this pristine auditorium with its well preserved ceiling architectural details. Probably none of the new Fellows is old enough to remember that this was the old Allen and Farris Lecture Theatres of the Faculty of Medicine when it was at Sepoy Lines...

In a few months’ time, one of the most significant advances, possibly the most significant advance ever in the history of biology and medicine, will be achieved with the rolling out of the first draft of the map detailing the entire Human Genome. This article is available only as a...

The legacy of Tan Tock Seng Hospital began with the founding of the Pauper Hospital in Pearl’s Hill in 1844. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Before I go on to the scientific aspects of my talk, I would like to pay tribute to Dr Yahya Cohen. Dr Cohen was born in Singapore of Jewish parents. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Firstly may I thank the Academy of Medicine and the Chapter of Surgeons for giving me this great privilege and honour to deliver the final lecture of the century for our series of Chapter of Surgeons lectures to close the 20th century and begin a new dawn in the...

It is a pleasure to be present with you all at your 33rd Annual Combined Surgical Meeting for 1999 with less than 60 days to go into the new millennium. I applaud your organising committee under Dr Sarbjit Singh for a comprehensive and exciting programme which I trust you...

Supplement on Casemix Conference Singapore 2001 held on 17-19 August 2001 in Singapore This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Supplement on Casemix Conference Singapore 2001 held on 17-19 August 2001 in Singapore This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Supplement on Casemix Conference Singapore 2001 held on 17-19 August 2001 in Singapore This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

I am greatly honoured to speak at the 4th TTSH Oration following such distinguished luminaries like Dr Chew Chin Hin, Dr Chen Ai Ju and Professor N Balachandran. I also wish to thank all of you who are present this evening. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Alternative financing of health care delivery is one of the most vexing problems facing medicine today. Intensive care in many ways is a perfect example of the core problems facing policymakers responsible for financing health care. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

When I was first invited to give this 2nd Chapter of Paediatricians Lecture by the Chapter, my obvious answer was no. I could think of quite a few other paediatricians more qualified and appropriate as speakers and hoped that my emphatic no would work. This article is available only as...

I am greatly honoured to deliver the 10th Seah Cheng Siang memorial lecture. I came into direct contact with Professor Seah in January 1965 when I joined the then Thomson Road General Hospital as his senior registrar. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

I would like to express my gratitude to the Chapter of Surgeons and the Academy of Medicine, Singapore for the honour of presenting this 5th Yahya Cohen Lecture. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

These observations were made by a Persian mathematician some 900 years ago. His sentiments are self-evident but no less easy to accept especially for operating surgeons. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

I am deeply honoured by the invitation to deliver the 15th Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

My lecture is about people, power, illness, and the patient-physician relationship. It is the personality of the politician or official, the ego elevation conferred by power, the repression of the thought of illness, and the combination of these factors, which leads to subversion of the patient-doctor relationship when a...

The recorded history of breast cancer management spans four millennia. This story about breast cancer management is also one about change, about resistance to and acceptance of change. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

I am honoured and privileged to have been invited to deliver the 5th Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) Oration at the Opening of your 9th Annual Scientific Meeting. When I was invited, I hesitated for a moment as I have not been in active practice for quite a while,...

What a patient can see during his or her surgery can be a cause of anxiety for the patient. It may cause additional stress to what for most patients is already a traumatic event. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

There are many problems which all Health Ministers worry about. But we can generally boil them down to one common problem: “money no enough”. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Over a span of 35 years of my working life, I have witnessed the growth of, and also grown together with, neonatology in Singapore. As I look at the present-day status of neonatology, it gives me a sense of achievement and accomplishment. This article is available only as a PDF....

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) remains one of the most difficult disorders to understand and treat in Paediatric Orthopaedics. The aetiology have not been clearly understood and therefore the management remains controversial. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Cleidocranial dysplasia is an autosomal dominant skeletal disorder characterized by short stature, brachycephaly, delayed closure of the fontanelles and sutures, Wormian bones, midface hypoplasia, unerupted teeth, supernumerary permanent teeth, aplasia or hypoplasia of the clavicles, and other skeletal anomalies, such as hypoplastic iliac wings and brachydactyly. This article is available...

Autoimmune liver disorders are inflammatory liver diseases characterised histologically by a dense mononuclear cell infiltrate, including plasma cells, in the portal tract (Fig. 1) and serologically by the presence of non-organ and liver-specific autoantibodies and increased levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), in the absence of a known aetiology. They...

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in Asia has grown from a handful of cases to a major public health threat with wide-ranging medical, social and economic consequences. First gaining foothold among intravenous drug users and commercial sex workers, HIV quickly spreads to...

It gives me great pleasure to join you this evening at the 36th Singapore Malaysia Congress of Medicine and the 36th Annual Combined Surgical Meeting of the Chapter of Surgeons, Academy of Medicine, Singapore. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Tumour metastasis, or the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumour to distant sites, remains the principal cause of treatment failure and poor prognosis in patients with cancer. Early metastasis concepts were based upon the premise of uninterrupted tumour growth, stepwise spread of tumour cells with the inevitable...

Has it done any good to pregnancy outcome as promised? This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

It is indeed a great pleasure and honour to present to you Dr Andrew Chew Guan Khuan, who is already a Fellow of the Academy, for conferment of Honorary Fellowship of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, the highest honour the Academy can bestow on any of its Fellows. Dr...

It is my pleasure and privilege to introduce Sir Donald Irvine as the 17th Gordon Arthur Ransome Orator. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Opening Ceremony of the 38th Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine with participation of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and Induction Comitia of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

It humbles me to accept the invitation to give this lecture, the First College of Physicians Lecture, titled “The Role of Internal Medicine as a Specialty in the Era of Subspecialisation”. I believe I am given this honour as I am one of the few of a seemingly dying...

Next year, we celebrate a hundred years of medical education in Singapore. We have come a long way since 1821 – from a small, sleepy medical outpost catering to the British Armed Forces in the Far East, to an excellent state-of-the-art medical hub. This article is available only as a...

In my Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration and other papers, I have described the nature and development of patient-centred professionalism, the key features of which are summarised in Figure 1. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine is a statutory body set up in 1993 with the objectives of fostering the development of postgraduate medical education and continuing medical education, the study and practice of medicine and its specialties, and medical research. It is concerned with the standard of specialist...

There is now worldwide consensus that the elements of medical professionalism need to be enhanced and explicitly taught in medical schools. Medical schools in the United Kingdom (UK) have recently published a model for a core ethics curriculum. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

For the past 25 years, professionalisation, industrialisation, large-scale infusions of technology into the healthcare system and consumerism, to name a few factors, have definitely contributed to changes in the healthcare environment. At the same time, society has moved from modernity to post-modernity with the adoption of pluralism, relativism and...

It is a great honour to be invited to deliver the Runme Shaw Memorial Lecture. I am grateful to the Runme Shaw Foundation for their support of this lecture. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

When sickness strikes we all need doctors. People everywhere know that the quality of medical care can affect the outcome and possible consequences of illness, and at times mean the difference between life and death. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

I want to thank the Chapter and organisers for honouring me with this kind invitation to speak to you. This millennium is only 4 years old, and yet I cannot see beyond the next decade, with things moving so rapidly. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Flap prefabrication is one of the most exciting areas in Plastic Surgery because of its bridging role between conventional reconstructive surgery and tissue engineering. Using this technique, tissues such as bone, cartilage, skin and muscle can be pre-assembled to form precise composites that will fit any defect. This article is...

I am humbled by the invitation given to me by Changi General Hospital to deliver this lecture at your 5th Annual Scientific Meeting with the theme “Frontiers of Medicine”. Thank you very much for the honour accorded me. Your CEO, Mr Udairam, and your CMB, Prof Fock Kwong Ming,...

I am happy to be among old friends. As surgeons, we share a kindred spirit. I wish to thank the Academy for the honour of giving this lecture. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

In our quest to pursue knowledge regarding a patient’s illness or seek a cure for the disease, as doctors we have to derive the necessary answers through physical examination of the patient and investigations either at the bedside or the laboratory. We engage in research activities into the patient’s...

Professor Seah Cheng Siang was one of the most illustrious physicians of his era. During his professional career, he held the following positions: Head, Department of Medicine, Thomson Road General Hospital (1960-71); Head, Department of Medicine III at the Singapore General Hospital (1971-87); Master of the Academy of Medicine...

Radiology is undergoing unprecedented changes. Not only is the technology evolving rapidly, providing images of breathtaking anatomical clarity, but functional information has also become a reality. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common disease, which is estimated to affect up to 2% of middle-aged women and 4% of middle-aged men.1 Various attempts have been made to obtain predictive indicators of OSA, ranging from clinical predictors using body mass index (BMI), Malampatti score2 and tonsil size...

Atopic dermatitis is associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis, and presents with a typical morphology and distribution. Eighty-four per cent of cases of atopic dermatitis are mild, 14% moderate, and 2% severe.1 There are 10 randomised controlled trials, and 1 systematic review addressing the appropriate frequency of application of...

Allow me to thank you Mr President and your Council for asking me to deliver the 5th College of Physicians Lecture. Your President has suggested that with over 50 years of association with Medicine, the title be “In the Service of the Medical Profession”. This article is available only as...

Dr Tan Kim Ping, Chairman for the Dr FY Khoo Memorial Lecture, Ladies and Gentlemen – It is a signal honour for me to deliver this Lecture, the second since the Inaugural Lecture last year. Sadly, it has been renamed a Memorial Lecture, as Dr FY Khoo passed away...

There is increasing evidence that retinal and cardiovascular diseases share a “common soil”. Risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia and cigarette smoking, are known to influence the development of a range of retinal diseases, including hypertensive retinopathy, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein and artery occlusion, retinal...

Thank you Madam Chairman. First, I would like to thank the Singapore Radiological Society and the College of Radiologists, Academy of Medicine Singapore for giving me the honor of delivering this the 4th FY Khoo Memorial Lecture, 2008. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

In the post-war days of the 1950s, Singapore children were faced with problems of malnutrition and infectious diseases. There was poverty, overcrowded housing and lack of hygiene, and the social conditions were apparently appalling. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Cervical spondylosis is an extremely common condition managed by both physicians and surgeons in daily clinical practice. Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), resulting from longstanding degenerative impingement of the spinal cord and nerve roots by osteo-cartilagineous elements, is managed by conservative or surgical methods.1 While surgery is often performed in...

I am deeply honoured by the invitation to deliver the 16th Tun Dr Ismail Oration and I wish to thank the Master and Council of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia for this rare privilege of addressing a distinguished gathering such as this, as previous illustrious orators had done...

During the past few decades, there have been many significant developments in the practice of histopathology, the specialty that is also referred to as anatomic pathology, surgical pathology, or simply as pathology without qualification. Those selected for review are grouped under 4 headings: new techniques, organisational developments, ethical and...

President of the College of Surgeons, distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour and a unique privilege for me to be invited to deliver a named lecture for a third time. Twenty years ago, I gave the first overseas Joint Lecture of the Academy and...

Preparedness for terrorism in the 21st century includes addressing the management of nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) terrorism events. Understanding the terrorist threat and detecting clues that an attack has occurred are critical to reducing morbidity and mortality in the next decade. While high explosive events (bomb and blast)...

The training of surgeons composed of two aspects: (1) Clinical skill and competence; (2) The ‘soft’ skill and ‘art’ of surgery. With the gradual introduction of residency programme into the surgical discipline, hopefully our clinical training will be more systematic, closely supervised, monitored, assessed and reassessed, and structured. This article...

I would like to thank the Academy of Medicine and the Singapore Radiological Society for giving me the honour of delivering this year’s F Y Khoo’s Memorial Lecture. I believe that I am one of the few radiologists in Singapore who had the privilege of working with Dr F...

I am greatly honoured to be given the privilege of delivering the 3rd College of Surgeons Lecture, especially when I have retired from surgery for 3 years. I am not in a position to contribute anything significant to your knowledge. There is an old Chinese saying that learning is...

Radiation-induced sensori-neural hearing loss (SNHL) has long been recognised as a complication of radiotherapy (RT) for head and neck tumours, if the auditory pathways had been included in the radiation fields. In Singapore, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is common and the prevalence of SNHL after radiotherapy for NPC has been...

It has been my greatest pleasure and honour to accept this, the 11th Yahya Cohen Memorial Lectureship on the anniversary of a half century of the Academy of Medicine. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Pharmacogenetics, by definition, refers to the study of genetic differences in metabolic pathways which can affect an individual’s responses to drugs in terms of both therapeutic and adverse effects. In recent years, there have been several success stories such as HER2 for trastuzumab in breast cancer and VKORC1/CYP2C9 for...

When we think about medicine, just like we do about other things in life in the past and the present, we usually reflect on the good old days. On hindsight, the past always seems brighter than the present. Sometimes, it is worth looking back to see how things have...

Superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) can result in a characteristic constellation of vestibular and auditory features, including autophony, oscillopsia, and vertigo, and characteristic eye movements induced by sound and pressure changes. Patients with SSCD also show lowered thresholds for vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) and a heightened sensitivity to bone-conducted...

The question of informed consent is a concern of recent origin and has engaged the mind of the medical profession here for only some 5 decades now. The term ‘informed consent’ is very much of American origin and the British have termed it as ‘a duty to warn’. This...

Mr SR Nathan, our guest of honour, Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, Madam Kay Kuok, Chairman of NHG Board, Board members, colleagues, distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen, I am greatly humbled by the honour and privilege to deliver the 7th TTSH Oration this evening. The sixth...

Firstly, I wish to thank the Singapore Radiological Society and the College of Radiologists, Singapore for deeply honouring me with the invitation to give the FY Khoo Memorial Lecture for this year’s Annual Scientific Meeting. Today, I will present you an argument that radiologists should be conscious of philosophy...

With the rise of high tech medicine, and emphasis on the scientific aspects of medicine, there is danger that we may lose the balanced approach to healing, and lose the benefit of the traditional medical wisdom and emotional support to improve the care of our patients. This article is available...

The rapid advancement of biomedical research in the recent years was propelled by a series of groundbreaking technological inventions and breakthrough discoveries. In this lecture, I will discuss about the scientific achievements that led to different eras of intense research with profound impact on biomedicine, focusing on the use...

Distinguished guests and colleagues in medicine, I am deeply honoured to have been invited to deliver this 22nd oration in honour of Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome, and also humbled when I peruse the list of outstanding previous orators. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Man’s innate curiosity to study the internal organs of the human body dates back to the time of Hippocrates where basic speculums were invented to peer into the buccal cavity and vagina. The first instruments used to intubate the oesophagus and stomach in the 16th and 17th centuries were...