The primary role of the Centre for Medical Education (CenMED) is to promote professionalism and excellence in medical education through: (a) faculty development, (b) providing support in developing educational policy and (c) conducting scholarship in teaching and learning activities in medical education. As a faculty support system, CenMED will provide educational leadership in creating a collegial environment to build communities of practitioners with the skills to combine their respective discipline expertise with sound pedagogy that will optimise student learning and educational outcomes. Our ultimate aim is to ensure that our faculty will adopt best evidenced teaching practices that will enhance learning and development of our students as safe, efficient and caring future practitioners, but also the best in ourselves as teachers.

The role assigned to our CenMED will also complement that of the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning in NUS. In particular, CenMED will focus its professional development programmes mainly on the educational training of clinical teachers and on the special educational strategies used in medical teaching. CenMED will provide advice and consultation on the development, design and evaluation of the overall medical curriculum, with special emphasis on ensuring the integration and the medical relevance of the various component disciplines that contribute to the training of a medical doctor as a whole.

It is indeed appropriate and timely to have established a Centre for Medical Education in our Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. A formal organizational structure with appropriate expertise in and dedicated to promoting professionalism and excellence in medical education is now a common staff support system in most leading medical schools in the world. Striving for excellence and leadership status in medical education will contribute significantly to the educational mission of NUS with the people of Singapore as the ultimate beneficiaries.