Back
Saturday, 31 May, 2014
Duke-NUS Class of 2014 Graduates
Duke-NUS leaders and faculty were extremely proud to witness the graduation of the school’s fourth M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) class on May 31, 2014. Graced by Guest-of-Honor Mr. S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, 51 students from the Class of 2014 received their scrolls at a ceremony held at The Academia. This year, the keynote lecture was delivered by Duke University’s Professor Robert Lefkowitz, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2012.
In his address to the graduating class before he takes up the post as president at the US National Academies’ Institute of Medicine on July 1, Chancellor Victor Dzau encouraged the Class of 2014 to serve with passion and purpose, to “commit to a career that is characterized by medical, scientific and research excellence, and service to [the] community”.
Sharing the same sentiment in his keynote address, Professor Robert Lefkowitz reminded the graduating class to fulfill their calling to be doctors by always believing in what they are doing and to follow their own path while remaining enthusiastic and optimistic.
The Class of 2014 came from a myriad of academic backgrounds, ranging from the Sciences, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences. Some students entered with Masters Degrees or PhDs. They continued to excel over the four years, winning awards, securing patents, and balancing their studies while representing Singapore at international sports competitions.
Some student highlights:
•Kavisha Singh: Received the Duke-NUS Achievement Prize, SingHealth Top Student Gold Medal, SingHealth Prize in Family Medicine and Neurology.
•Esther Low: Received the Feng Pao Hsii Prize in Rheumatology award for the best research project in the field of rheumatology. She is also the outgoing Duke-NUS Student Council president.
•Sophie Carrie Cai Shan: A Ngee Ann Kongsi Distinguished Scholar, she won the Dermatology Best Research Studies Award and the SingHealth Seah Cheng Siang Gold Medal in Medicine.
•Tay Yu Ling: a former national fencer, Yu Ling was awarded the College of Family Physicians Singapore Prize in Family Medicine
•Toh Li Ying: a national sailor who won the SingHealth Prize in Pediatrics.
•Lai Hsuan & Darius Aw: Both invented an integrated medical device that can be used to diagnose lumps on the neck.
•Wijaya Martanto: co-founded the Duke-NUS Medtech student interest group. Wijaya was also the recipient of the SingHealth Prize in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The auditorium was filled by parents, family and friends, faculty and leaders of Duke, NUS, Duke-NUS and SingHealth, who looked on in pride as the students walked across the stage to receive their hoods and scrolls.
The students will begin their residency in their assigned specialties in July.