MEDICAL EDUCATION

Transitional Year Overview

The NHG Transitional Year Residency Program brings together the highly rated faculty members of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) to further build on our strong teaching traditions. Our Transitional Year Residency Program is run by a dedicated and distinguished team of faculty members, with a resident-focused and well-structured training curriculum that addresses competencies, assessments, and feedback. You will have opportunities to explore a wide variety of electives in a supportive environment, before making a life-long career choice. 

Training the Next Generation of Doctors

The Transitional Year Residency Program runs from May to July every year.

During this time, you will rotate through the following:

• Four months of General Medicine
• Four months of General Surgery or Orthopaedic Surgery
• Six months comprising a combination of Emergency Medicine and elective rotations

This comprehensive year will fulfil both the post-graduate year one (PGY1) licensing requirements set by the Singapore Medical Council and ACGME-I.   

General Medicine

The Departments of General Medicine in TTSH and KTPH have retained their traditional strength in broad-based clinical medicine while implementing innovative changes. This enables us to provide training in a wide variety of undifferentiated case presentations.

The emphasis of this rotation is the holistic and comprehensive management of patients. Here, you will gain the ability to obtain information, arrive at the correct diagnosis in a timely manner and institute appropriate management plan.

General Surgery     

The General Surgery rotation introduces you to a variety of surgical fields. Through structured teaching and academic activities, the rotation exposes you to the basics of surgical care in general surgery, surgical critical care, hepatobiliary surgery, colorectal surgery, trauma surgery, breast and endocrine surgery, upper gastrointestinal and bariatric surgery, vascular surgery, laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery and surgical oncology. The curriculum is structured to give a solid foundation that forms the core of good surgical training.

Orthopaedic Surgery

During this rotation, you will experience the multi-disciplinary nature of orthopaedic surgical care. You are given progressive responsibility for the care of patients under the supervision of faculty members, with special emphasis placed on the understanding of the inter-related sub-facets of orthopaedic care.

Residents also attain a good grounding in the areas of geriatric medicine, rehabilitation, physiotherapy and hand therapy, which are crucial elements of orthopaedic training.

Emergency Medicine

Standing at the confluence of the three major highways, TTSH manages the busiest Emergency Department in Singapore. Most trainees who have rotated through this ED tell us that the experience has prepared them to face the changes in patient care with a calm and methodical eye.

Experiences range from the acute management of trauma to being the focal point of early management of national infectious outbreaks, such as SARS and H1N1.

During this rotation, you will experience the team spirit, excitement and camaraderie of working in a fast-paced environment in the culture of NHG-AHPL. You are exposed to a wide range of undifferentiated acute cases, and this hones your skills in decision-making and work prioritisation.

This unique experience is completed with a comprehensive schedule of classroom-based teaching sessions to grow clinical acumen and personal development.

Electives:

You can choose from a range of possible electives including:

Division of Medicine:   

• General Medicine
• Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Gastroenterology
• Renal Medicine
• Cardiology
• Psychiatry
• Neurology (with the National Neuroscience Institute at TTSH)  

Division of Surgery:   

• General Surgery
• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Anaesthesiology
• Urology
• Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)
• Ophthalmology (Eye)   
  
  

Division of Ambulatory and Diagnostic Medicine:   

• Diagnostic Radiology  

Division of Integrated and Community Care:   

• Geriatric Medicine   
  
  

The Core Curriculum   

Residents in the NHG-AHPL Transitional Year Residency Program will also benefit from the NHG-AHPL Core Curriculum, which focuses residents on the wider competencies required to be a successful clinician. These competencies are:

• Patient Care
• Medical Knowledge
• Interpersonal Skills and Communication
• Professionalism
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
• Systems-Based Practice   
  
  

Through a combination of didactic and clinical activities, these essential competencies are taught in a manner designed to ease your progression from a student to a practising doctor. 

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