LKCMedicine MedCamp returns! Bigger crowd, stronger lineup!

On 2-3 June, the Novena campus was again abuzz with young hearts and minds keen to pursue medical education. The highly anticipated MedCamp was back, hosting a total of 143 pre-university students from 25 schools across Singapore, almost double the participants of the inaugural MedCamp last year. Throughout the two-day camp, the students participated in a suite of immersive activities in our labs, teaching facilities, medical library and heritage centre with fervour and enthusiasm, leaving them with the fondest of memories at the end, as well as new friendships and new-found knowledge and passion for Medicine.

 

MedCamp Assemble!

Each day, the students from across Singapore arrived bright and early for registration, where they collected their special MedCamp paraphernalia that includes comestibles for the day.

They then received words of welcome and camp rallies from several of our school leaders including Dean of LKCMedicine, Professor Joseph Sung, Vice-Dean for Education Associate Professor Faith Chia, our LKCMedicine Medical Society Vice-President Phoon Yan Xin, as well as Chief Camp Marshal Ms Mariam Rahman.

Following this, campers were brought through a series of ice breakers where they got into their allocated teams named after planets in our solar system. Consisting of 12 students from different schools, the team allocations allowed the campers to make friends with peers from different backgrounds. This year’s edition of MedCamp also welcomed 17 student volunteers from Raffles Girls School, who took on the role as camp marshals to lead each team around the activities.

And with that, on to the MedQuests!

MedQuest 1: “Intro to Anatomy” Workshop

For their first taste of medical education, the campers were introduced to the function and clinical or surgical significance of anatomy at our state-of-the-art Anatomy Learning Centre (ALC), led by Associate Professor Sreenivasulu Reddy Mogali, LKCMedicine Head of Anatomy. Through the use of plastinated human specimens and novel multi-modal tools, they learnt about core concepts from a multi-disciplinary team of instructors comprising anatomists, surgeons, radiologists and pathologists. Campers also had the chance to experience a virtual dissection of the human body using the Anatomage table, as well as the novel 3D printed organs and 3D modelling through Augmented Reality visualisation.

Unlocking Medical Discovery – Where AI meets the library!

This edition of MedCamp also featured a new library engagement session at the Sim Hoay Cheok – Sim Foundation Library, led by LKCMedicine’s very own expert librarians. Campers got the chance to witness how the medical library empowers our medical students with AI tools like Riley, the Information Literacy in Evidence-Based Medicine (IL-EBM) chatbot, integrated into their Scientific Enquiry and Evidence-Based Medicine (SEEM) curriculum. The informative session ended off with a quiz, testing the campers’ newly attained knowledge on the medical library, with specially prepared prizes presented to the top 10 campers who scored the most points.

Next up, the Ultimate MedChallenge!

This year’s MedChallenge was designed to be even more stimulating than the last, challenging the campers’ ability to think on their feet and work harmoniously as a team – both essential qualities that a doctor should have. Equipped with a map to navigate the Novena Campus, campers raced against time to complete a series of questions using clues at various campus landmarks. Attractive prizes awaited the fastest three teams with the greatest number of correct questions answered!

Moving on to MedQuest 2!

MedQuest 2: Lab Immersions

Campers had a chance to visit one of six LKCMedicine labs over at the Clinical Sciences Building, up from five labs in the inaugural MedCamp. Here, campers were able to witness the innovative research that takes place in these labs.

At Assistant Professor Christine Wong’s lab which works on NETosis biology, campers were able to learn about the cell death process where neutrophils spill out their DNA and cellular contents, forming the highly toxic neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs).

 

In the tour of the Dementia Research Centre (Singapore) led by Associate Professor Nagaendran Kandiah’s team, campers had the opportunity to try their hand at many tests, such as retinal imagining, mini MRI workshops and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The activities enabled campers to understand the importance of dementia research and the latest tools to identify and tackle dementia early.

Over at Nanyang Assistant Professor Xia Yun’s lab, campers got to witness the cutting edge research of generating kidney organoids (also known as mini-kidneys in a dish) from human pluripotent stem cells. These mini-kidneys represent a physiologically relevant model of the human kidney, offering unprecedented opportunities to study pathophysiology that is unique to the human kidney.

In the Centre for Microbiome Medicine (CMM) led by Associate Professor Sunny Wong, campers were introduced to the world of microbiome research through an engaging presentation on the microbiome’s impact on human health, disease, and the future of Medicine. Campers were then brought to tour the state-of-the-art research laboratories, where the CMM scientists showed them how real-time microbiome experiments and analyses were conducted.

At Associate Professor Yusuf Ali’s lab, the research focuses on pancreatic islet health and gut microbiome research in type 2 diabetes and cancer. During the lab tour, participants were introduced to the gut microbiome's role in health and disease as well as see experimental setups used in pancreatic islet and gut microbiome research.

The newest addition to the MedCamp Lab Immersions was the Office of Patient Engagement (OPEN). The session was led by Ms Ai Ling Sim-Devadas, Deputy Director, and allowed campers to explore how patient involvement helps to shape medical research to yield meaningful outcomes for patients. Campers had the opportunity to engage with and hear first-hand from patient partners during the session in a human-library style discussion.

Ask Me Anything – Career in Medicine (Part 1)!

Day 1 ended off with a bang during the Ask Me Anything session featuring Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Head of General Surgery Department, Associate Professor Glenn Tan, hosted by A/Prof Faith Chia. In his presentation, A/Prof Tan candidly shared his experiences in the surgical wards, showing rare insights into his life as a surgeon, before ending the engaging session with humility and this quote: “Always remember, there is always someone to learn from ... One of my mentors told me this – If I’ve seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

MedCamp Day 2

MedCamp Assemble!

Decked in matching t-shirts specially designed for MedCamp 2025, campers started off Day 2 with more team bonding games to hype them up.

Next, off to MedQuest workshops!

MedQuest 3: “Future Healthcare” – A Digital Learning Workshop

Following a talk led by Assistant Professor Lee, Director of the Centre for Biomedical Informatics, campers had the chance to practise clinical communication with an AI-powered clinical chatbot, prescribe medication using a digital ePrescription tool, and challenge their knowledge and reflexes through VR activities conducted by the Digital Learning team. They even had the opportunity to experiment with voice cloning and design their own digital twin!

MedQuest 4: “Get the Heart Beating” – Practical Skills Lab Workshop

At the Practical Skills Lab led by Madam Ramani Saravanan, Assistant Director and Lead for Practical Skills and Clinical Procedures, campers learnt the importance of hygiene in a clinical setting through play, as well as familiarise themselves with and gain confidence in using clinical tools through simulations and hands-on practical stations.

Team-Based Learning – Teamwork makes the dream work!

At one of our bespoke seminar rooms designed for team-based learning (TBL), campers had the opportunity to participate in a TBL demonstration by Ms Yang Lishan, Lead for TBL Facilitation, with Dr Vivek Perumal, Senior Lecturer of Anatomy as the content expert. Through the session, campers put their new-found medical knowledge to use and gained a better understanding of LKCMedicine’s innovative teaching method whilst exercising their teamwork.

Ask Me Anything – Career in Medicine (Part 2)!

Before the day ended, the students were hosted to another Ask Me Anything session, this time with LKCMedicine’s Class of 2018 alumni: Dr Rachel Lim and Dr Tiong Wen Shuo. Hosted by Dr Daniel Quek, LKCMedicine Assistant Dean, MBBS Lead. Dr Lim and Dr Tiong not only shared about their journey through LKCMedicine’s curriculum but also touched on many aspects of the vibrant student life and community. As they took questions from the floor, Dr Quek, Dr Lim and Dr Tiong were able to provide campers with useful insights from multiple perspectives – as educators, alumni, and most importantly, as medical professionals.

Time to reflect on the Learning Journey…

To end off the MedCamp, campers were given 45 minutes to put their heads together to create a 3-minute presentation to express their reflections in creative ways. From skits to raps, songs to poems, campers put their hearts into showcasing their experiences and thoughts on the MedCamp.

The campers’ presentations were judged across content, creativity and expression, by a panel of judges: LKCMedicine Vice-Dean for Clinical Affairs Professor Kwek Tong Kiat; LKCMedicine Chief Operating Officer Dr Serene Ng; President of NTU Student Union, LKCMedicine Year 4 student Edison Ng; and Head of MedCamp Organising Committee Madam Siti Rohanah Koid.

While results were tabulated, Professor Kwek took to the stage to give a short closing address. Expressing his hopes that the MedCamp has been helpful in providing the campers with more knowledge and information on medicine, he encouraged them to keep in touch with LKCMedicine as they continue their exploration of medical education.

Winners of MedCamp 2025!

The MedCamp ended off with a boisterous prize presentation. Throughout the past two days, the camp participants explored and enjoyed many experiences. They also had fun, and they had games, and boy, were they competitive in those games! During the prize giving ceremony, teams cheered hard for their teammates. There was awards and medals galore, given out by LKCMedicine COO Dr Ng, and NTUSU President Edison. There was even icing on the cake! The team with the best reflection presentation was rewarded with hospital attachments, made possible by LKCMedicine’s primary clinical partner, the National Healthcare Group.

Individual Winners:

Rizz Lord	Xue Jiayue, Hwa Chong Institution
Rizz Queen	Thanya Saravanan, Anglo-Chinese Junior College
Hype Master	Aung Kaung Sat, St Joseph's Institution
Squad Star	Aashish Pradeep Kumar, St Joseph's Institution
Most Valuable Player (MVP) Male	Nicholas Lim Wei Zheng, Anderson Serangoon Junior College
Most Valuable Player (MVP) Female	Sim Xinyi Charlotte, Temasek Polytechnic

 

 

Ultimate MedChallenge Winners:

1^st place: Team Saturn

2^nd place: Team Makemake

3^rd place: Team Venus

 

 

Learning Journey Reflection Winners:

1^st place: Team Neptune

2^nd place: Team Saturn

3^rd place: Team Ceres

 

 

Certificate of Appreciation for Student Volunteers:

As we bid goodbye to MedCamp 2025, we hear from campers on their experience…

“I feel really blessed and grateful to be able to be given this opportunity to take part in a hospital attachment programme. Firstly, I didn’t even know about the existence of this award, so when our group first found out about it this morning, we were all eager to do our best to put [in] everything so that we could win this award. And eventually we managed to win it, and we are all so grateful to be able to win it. I’m really looking forward to being able to apply my knowledge that I’ve learnt through Ngee Ann Poly[technic] and through this camp; to apply it into real world settings … and hopefully through this experience, I will be able to gain more experience and help to build my portfolio and be able to translate my knowledge into practice.” – Yasmin Hamdan, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

“I think my most favourite thing [about MedCamp] is probably the visit to the Dementia [Research] Centre, because I think it was quite interesting to see the different types of tests the university has to assess dementia in the patients, and we were also lucky to have a feel of how these tests are like.” – Pranith Senthil Kumar, NUS High School of Mathematics and Science

“It’s been a good impression, because I haven’t really heard much about it [LKCMedicine] before … I completely didn’t know this building was here and that Tan Tock Seng Hospital was so affiliated. I think so far, the people have been really nice, the teachers seem super-duper genuine and nice, and the campus has good vibes.” – Lee Rui En Coco, Dunman High School

“I would definitely recommend MedCamp to my friends, because this was a really big learning experience for me. I learnt a lot of things about medicine and about LKC[Medicine] as well, and I think that these experiences really shaped me a lot and are really going to help me in the future to decide whether I want to pursue medicine.” – Ananya Ratra, Victoria Junior College

“Throughout this MedCamp, I’ve learnt many different things about the School … At the start I thought LKC[Medicine] was just like any other med school ... But I realised that in LKC[Medicine], there’s greater focus on teamwork and team bonding, as seen through, for example the team-based learning where different students come together to discuss and solve problems, instead of just listening to the lecturers. And I find that such schemes of work are more effective especially when it comes to learning and memorising stuff related to medicine and applying them.” – Yap Fei Ran, Raffles Institution

 

With this second edition of MedCamp, LKCMedicine continues its journey to nurture and shape the minds of future doctors. Through the interactive and engaging activities, LKCMedicine strives to uphold its commitment to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals. We are now looking forward to next year’s MedCamp!