How do we encourage clinician scientists in Singapore?

Singapore can be proud of its many achievements in the last few decades. Amongst these is the very high standard of healthcare enjoyed by its population.1 In fact, its reputation for medical excellence has attracted many international patients and the numbers are growing. This achievement can be attributed to the hard work, dedication and commitment of those who developed healthcare delivery and training systems which have produced world class doctors and provided state-of-the-art facilities for medical practice.2 Previous generations of doctors in Singapore deserve a significant amount of the credit: although overworked and short-staffed, they have developed clinical, surgical and diagnostic departments with a level of quality healthcare second to none in the world. Even those who decided to take the path of medical research have done well in an environment that was not conducive to research. We all know examples of those in the Singaporean medical fraternity who have dedicated a part of their time to research and who have achieved international recognition. However, we need to continually improve if we want to maintain our leadership position in healthcare delivery and make Singapore a true medical hub. The arrival of the Academic Medical Centres, which will combine the practice of medicine with high quality medical education and training, as well as research, is an important new development. The involvement of clinicians in translational research is of paramount importance in developing new technologies and treatments for patients. There is a need to train clinician scientists who can provide the bridge between basic scientists and clinicians to facilitate translational research.3 The Ministry of Health has just announced the launch of a new initiative to encourage doctors under specialty training to pursue a higher degree in research (either a 3-to4 year PhD or a 1-year MSc). Individuals taking this programme (so-called clinician scientists) will finish their training 1 to 4 years behind their regular peers, but will be equipped with a degree qualification that would allow them to develop translational research parallel to their clinical careers in the long term. This is one of many efforts, in tune How do we Encourage Clinician Scientists in Singapore? Manuel Salto-Tellez,1MD, FRCPath, Vernon M S Oh,2MD, FRCP, FAMS, Eng Hin Lee,3MD, FRCS (C), FAMS