EDUCATION
RESEARCH
Singapore, 12 May 2011 – With a combined seed Gift of S$2.5 million from the Tote Board and SingHealth Foundation, the Duke‐NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore has launched an initiative to honour one of the founding fathers of Singapore Medicine, Dr Benjamin Sheares, who passed away 30 years ago.
Dr Benjamin Sheares was very well‐loved and respected by Singaporeans for his deep passion for medicine and clinical research in obstetrics and gynaecology, as well as for being a man of the people. He served with distinction as Singapore’s second President for three terms that spanned more than a decade (2 January 1971 ‐ 12 May 1981).
Dr Benjamin Sheares showed great kindness, immense humility and great respect for others. His skills as a surgeon were unparallelled, his gentle bedside manners were legendary, as was his complete dedication to mentoring medical students and doctors and his devotion to his patients. Dr Benjamin Sheares was known to treat all his patients equally and was not one to turn away patients who could not afford to pay medical fees.
For his distinction in medical accomplishments in Singapore’s early medical history, his service to patients, the teaching of medical students and doctors, and his pioneering efforts in clinical research and innovations, Dr Benjamin Sheares is a sterling role model for Singapore’s younger generation of clinicians and clinician‐scientists ‐ some of whom are being trained at SingHealth institutions and at the Duke‐NUS Medical School.
Dr Benjamin Sheares joined the public health service in 1929 after graduation, and in 1931 was posted to serve in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the King Edward VII College of Medicine at the Singapore General Hospital. He was the first Singaporean to be appointed Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Malaya in Singapore in January 1950, a position he held until June 1960, when he retired and went into private practice. He was a highly eminent obstetrician and gynaecologist, and was world‐renowned for pioneering the Lower Segment Caesarean Section. This technique, revolutionary and new at that time, significantly reduced mortality and morbidity rates for Singaporean mothers and babies. This procedure remains, till this day, the gold standard for deliveries that require surgery, and has saved countless lives.
Dr Benjamin Sheares was also internationally recognised for his surgical treatment of vaginal agenesis, a developmental defect of infant girls, and the operation is known throughout the world as the ‘Sheares Procedure’.
Said to be the first Professorship to be established in the name of Dr Benjamin Sheares, the Professorship commemorates the rich medical legacy and distinguished work of the late President Sheares.
In establishing the Professorship, the Duke‐NUS Medical School obtained the approval of both the Sheares family and the Prime Minister’s Office to name the Professorship after the late President. The Professorship will recognize academic leadership in medical teaching and in forming collaborations with other international centres of excellence, thus advancing new frontiers in medicine.
Said Professor Ranga Krishnan, Dean of Duke‐NUS: “This Professorship will build on the strengths and expertise of SingHealth and Duke‐NUS, develop capabilities on the Outram Campus as well as set up initiatives within Singapore and overseas that will build Duke‐NUS’ and Singapore’s repute as a leading biomedical institution and hub.”
“This grant supports a worthy and significant programme both for SingHealth and SingHealth Foundation. As Duke‐NUS is SingHealth’s partner in Academic Medicine, this is an important professorship for SingHealth Foundation to support. It reinforces SingHealth’s commitment to quality patient care and translational research. For SingHealth Foundation, it exemplifies the programmes we aim to support that encourage innovation and improvements for even better healthcare. Like Professor Sheares, the individual selected for the Professorship will be a role model to medical students, clinicians and clinician scientists,” said Professor Tan Ser Kiat, Chairman, SingHealth Foundation and Group Chief Executive Officer of SingHealth.
The distinguished recipient will, during the term of the Professorship, pursue advanced research while serving students, patients and the community.
A selection committee is currently evaluating nominations. Duke‐NUS is expected to name the recipient of this prestigious Professorship on 28 May 2011, at an event to mark the completion of four years of medical study by its pioneering class of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) students. Graduates will be conferred a joint Doctor of Medicine degree from Duke University and the National University of Singapore at the NUS Commencement ceremony, to be held on 4 July 2011.
Said Mr Tan Soo Nan, Chief Executive of Tote Board, “The Benjamin Sheares Professorship marks the Tote Board’s first partnership with Duke‐NUS. We are pleased to support this prestigious project to honour the late Dr Benjamin Sheares, and to contribute further to our nation‐building and community programmes.”
“Our family deeply appreciates the effort of the Tote Board, Duke‐NUS and the SingHealth Foundation, to preserve the rich medical legacy of our late father, Dr Benjamin Sheares, so that it lives on for future generations of clinicians and clinician‐scientists, and the Singaporeans whom they will serve,” said Ms Constance Sheares and Dr Joseph Sheares, for the Sheares family.
The Duke‐NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (Duke‐NUS) was established in 2005 as a strategic collaboration between the Duke University School of Medicine, located in North Carolina, USA and the National University of Singapore (NUS). Duke‐NUS offers a graduate entry, 4‐year medical training programme based on the unique Duke model of education, with one year dedicated to independent study and research projects of a basic science or clinical nature. The first batch of students will graduate in 2011. Duke‐NUS also offers M.D/PhD and PhD programmes. As a player in Singapore’s biomedical community, Duke‐NUS has identified five Signature Research Programmes: Cancer & Stem Cell Biology, Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disorders, and Health Services and Systems Research. For more information, please visit www.duke-nus.edu.sg.
The Singapore Totalisator Board, or Tote Board, established on 1 January 1988, manages its funding activities from the gaming surpluses generated from the operations of the Singapore Turf Club, Singapore Pools and from the casino entry levies. The Tote Board supports a variety of projects and programmes in the areas of arts and culture, charity, community development, education, health and sports.
SingHealth Foundation is an Institute of Public Character established in 2002 to facilitate medical innovation in healthcare through its grant‐giving and fundraising efforts. Capitalising on SingHealth’s strengths, the Foundation strives to improve the quality of healthcare for Singapore’s future generations by funding biomedical research, skills upgrading and training for medical and healthcare professionals, innovative patient services, patient support programmes and Singapore Cord Blood Bank‐ the only public cord blood bank in Asia providing a second chance at life for Asian patients who need blood stem‐ cell transplants. SingHealth Foundation supports programmes that help realise tomorrow’s medicine.
Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares was elected by the Parliament as President of the Republic of Singapore on 2 January 1971.
Dr Sheares was born on 12 August 1907 in Singapore. The son of a former Public Works Department Technical Supervisor, he rose to become Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Malaya in Singapore, a holder of five degrees, and one of the most highly respected men in his field.
Dr Sheares received his early education at the Methodist Girls' School, and later at St Andrew's School and Raffles Institution. He joined the King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1923, and qualified with the degree of L.M.S. in March 1929. After serving two years as Assistant Medical Officer at the Sepoy Lines (now Singapore) General Hospital, he began his career in obstetrics and gynaecology in April 1931.
In 1940, Dr Sheares was awarded the Queen's Fellowship to do a two‐year postgraduate study in Britain, but he could not proceed owing to the outbreak of World War II. During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, he was Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Kandang Kerbau Hospital, and also Medical Superintendent of the Hospital for the local patients' section. After the Japanese surrendered, he became the first Singapore‐born doctor to be appointed acting Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the King Edward VII College of Medicine.
In May 1947, Dr Sheares proceeded to London for postgraduate study, and in January 1948, was the first Singapore obstetrician to qualify as member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of England. In March 1948, while studying for the degree of Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, he was recalled to Singapore to act as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In June 1948, he was also appointed Honorary Consultant at the British Military Hospital. His academic qualifications were L.M.S., M.D., M.S., F.R.C.O.G., F.A.C.S.
In 1951, Dr Sheares spent the remainder of the Queen's Fellowship due to him in several leading universities in the United States of America which concentrated on teaching post‐ graduate Obstetrics and Gynaecology and in research work in these subjects.
Dr Sheares held the post of Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Malaya in Singapore in January 1950 until June 1960, when he retired and went into private practice. Upon his retirement he became Honorary Consultant at the Kandang Kerbau Hospital, and retained close contact with the teaching of both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Dr Sheares had lectured in the United States and Britain and wrote many articles for international and local journals. As a personal obstetrician and gynaecologist to some members of the Malaysian royal families, he was made a Dato of Kedah and of Kelantan for his services. He was directly associated, as a gynaecologist, with the problems of family planning in Singapore. In early 1970, he was also appointed to the Committee on Medical Specialisation. He was conferred the following awards:
Dr Sheares and his wife had three children. He passed away on 12 May 1981.
Source: http://www.istana.gov.sg/content/istana/thepresident/formerpresidents/bs...
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