SINGAPORE: State-of-the-art classrooms and research centres are some of the facilities that can be found at two new buildings forming the dual campus of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

On Thursday (Jan 8), the school unveiled blueprints of the future facilities at a foundation stone laying ceremony that was attended by President Tony Tan Keng Yam, who is also the university's Chancellor.

Of the two buildings, the seven-storey Experimental Medicine Building, located next to the School of Biological Sciences on the NTU campus, will be the first to be completed by July this year in time to welcome students for the upcoming academic year.

Facilities at the Experimental Medicine Building will feature an expanded learning studio that is four times bigger than the existing facility, and can accommodate up to 200 students at one sitting.

Currently, students are using a similar but smaller learning studio located at the Research Techno Plaza within the NTU campus which can house around 50 students at one time. Lecturers can also teach from the centre rather than at the front of the classroom.

The aim is to encourage a more group-based and interactive learning environment, between students and faculty. The school said such a learning environment will also equip them with effective communication skills.

Said Professor James Best, Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine: "Our medical education takes into account the way modern medicine is practised. Doctors work more and more in teams, learning (not only) with other doctors but also other health professionals. And so, communication is one of the most important aspects of medical training."

He added: "Medicine is also about addressing problems and problem solving, not just regurgitating facts. So, while all of our students need a good, basic knowledge of the principles of medicine, they also need to know how to apply that knowledge, how to work in teams and how to solve problems. And that's all part of our new pedagogy."

The 20-storey Clinical Sciences Building, which will be located at the university's Novena campus, will open its doors next year. It will have simulation wards as well as a laboratory where students can perform tasks such as stitching of prosthetic wounds on "patients".The Novena campus will house recreational and student facilities, such as a roof-top medical library.

Said NTU President Bertil Andersson at Thursday's ceremony: "Coupled with our strong links with Imperial College London, we are creating a multidisciplinary hotbed for innovative new ideas and approaches to solve tomorrow's healthcare issues.

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NTU medical school kicks off move to new state-of-the-art premises