Welcome to the Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore.
Our department is ranked among the leading departments in the region in its holistic teaching of psychiatry as well as research excellence for the community. Our department’s long-term goals are in line with the tripartite mission for NUHS: further developing Clinical, Research and Educational Excellence.
The Department continuously strengthens its teaching and research programmes, particularly in key areas of Ageing, Complex Mood Disorders, and Early Life. These programmes are supported by our well-acclaimed faculty members. We hope to foster research and academic psychiatric training in the treatment and care for mental health around the world. We believe that education and research excellence would create the best clinical practice for our patients.
As you explore this website, I hope you will learn more about our department’s accomplishments, as well as examples of the research and teachings that we do that makes our department a unique place to work and study. We welcome you to connect with us, whether it is regarding collaboration between departments or institutes, both locally and internationally.
With best wishes,
Dr Cornelia Chee
Head, Department of Psychological Medicine
We are committed to provide quality psychiatric teaching and training for undergraduate and postgraduate students, in addition to being a leading centre for research in mental health in Asia, through clinical teaching and research incorporated in the clinical service provided at the National University Health System.
The NUS Department of Psychological Medicine traces its roots to 1979, established by Associate Professor Tsoi Wing Foo, and housed at the Department of Medicine in the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). His legacy continues through the work of dedicated staff who further the founding chairperson’s vision through inspirational teaching, translational research and clinical care in Singapore and the region. The department relocated to the new National University Hospital (NUH) in 1985 and saw the inception of the psychiatric ward thereafter. In conjunction with the Woodbridge Hospital (now known as Institute of Mental Health (IMH)), the department organised the post-graduate examination for the degree of Master of Medicine (Psychiatry) for the first time.
Over the years, the university department has grown in size and infrastructure. As a university teaching hospital, our department engages in teaching psychiatry to the undergraduate medical students, in collaboration with 6 affiliated teaching hospitals in Singapore. Annually, we see approximately 500 inpatient discharges and about 21,000 outpatient attendances. We have also developed a comprehensive range of subspecialty services in Psychological Medicine with particular strength and expertise in Mood Disorders, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry.
Our distinctive siting within a tertiary general hospital allows for seamless coordination of care provision from childhood through adolescence to adult cases with skilled diagnostic and interventional procedures. Further, interdepartmental case management stems research ideas that would translate into better clinical care and patient outcomes. The critical combination of medicine and psychiatry in the development of medical-psychiatry unit to manage complex cases further enhances the academic environment and the advancement of psychiatry teaching. The department continues to be the center of educational excellence with responsibilities in the teaching of undergraduate psychiatry to medical students of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUSMed), and postgraduate training for psychiatry and family medicine residents. We are also a participating site in the National Psychiatry Residency Programme, providing psychiatry residents with the best training environment. To strengthen our capabilities, we forge collaborations and partnerships to synergise our efforts with international healthcare systems.
Our distinctive siting within a tertiary general hospital allows for seamless coordination of care provision from childhood through adolescence to adult cases with skilled diagnostic and interventional procedures. Further, interdepartmental case management stems research ideas that would translate into better clinical care and patient outcomes. The critical combination of medicine and psychiatry in the development of medical-psychiatry unit to manage complex cases further enhances the academic environment and the advancement of psychiatry teaching. The department continues to be the center of educational excellence with responsibilities in teaching of undergraduate psychiatry to medical students of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUSMed), and postgraduate training for psychiatry and family medicine residents. We are also a participating site in the National Psychiatry Residency Programme, providing psychiatry residents with the best training environment. To strengthen our capabilities, we forge collaborations and partnerships to synergise our efforts with international healthcare systems.
2010-Present
2009 - 2010
2006 - 2009
2003 - 2006
1994 - 2002
1980 - 1994