The Department of Anatomy is one of the oldest departments at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. Anatomy has been, and continues to be, a cornerstone of medical education and in the training other healthcare professionals in our country. Formally established back in 1922 under the King Edward VII College of Medicine by instituting a Chair for Anatomy, Professor J G Harrower was the first Chair of the Department of Anatomy. Since then, NUS Medicine’s Anatomy has spent its 100-year odyssey continually motivated by the pursuit of excellence.
The Centennial celebrations was commemorated with the Guest-of-Honor Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS President and esteemed dignitaries: Professor Ho Teck Hua, Provost; Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, Chief Executive of NUHS; Professor John Eu-Li Wong and Professor Benjamin Ong Kian Chung, NUS Senior Vice Presidents and Professor Chong Yap Seng, Dean of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, at the University Cultural Centre on 21st February 2022. A compendium of the department’s legacy (The Anatomy Centennial Book) was unveiled at the event by President Tan Eng Chye, showcasing the department’s heritage and achievements with historical pictures.
NUS President, Prof Tan Eng Chye, lauded the department’s drive for excellence across areas of education, research, and technology; Anatomy’s unique melding of traditional teaching methods of dissection and prosected cadaveric specimens with modern virtual dissection tables, digitised specimens, and a virtual museum.
“Through years, NUS Medicine Anatomy’s strength has always been its timely amalgamation of traditional teaching methods, along with incorporation of modern infrastructure that technology has made available,” said Prof Tan Eng Chye. “While many Anatomy departments worldwide have left behind tried-and-tested pedagogies for new-and-fanciful teaching methodologies, generations of clinicians and healthcare practitioners in Singapore have benefitted from learning anatomy through the integration of effective old and new world methodologies.”
Prof Chong Yap Seng, Dean of NUS Medicine, congratulated the department and expressed that the next 100 years of Anatomy looks well set to not only transcend any approaching hurdles but also flourish with a thriving academic environment; empowered by proficient mentors and protégés that pass on the NUS spirit to inspire the next generation of students, teachers, and researchers.
Prof Yeoh Khay Guan, Chief Executive of NUHS, was also on-site to inaugurate the 6th International Anatomy and Cell Biology Conference, conducted in conjunction with the centennial celebrations. The three-day event featured lectures by internationally renowned medical educators, anatomists, and researchers working on ageing, neuroscience, cell biology and developmental biology from around the world.
Amidst all the celebration and fanfare, Assoc Prof S T Dheen, Head of the Anatomy Department announced the inception of ‘Anatomy Centennial Medical Bursary’, which is set to benefit medical students who require additional financial support. Prof Chong Yap Seng received the cheque of SGD 50,000 to institute a Staff Club-Anatomy centennial medical bursary from Associate Professor Lee Kim Seng, Vice Chairman for NUS Staff Club .
