An Integrative Approach to Needs Assessment and Curriculum Development of the First Public Health Major in Singapore.

Although public health undergraduate education is increasingly popular in the West, studies describing the needs assessment and curriculum development of public health undergraduate education programs are lacking in the Asia Pacific. The objective of this study was to describe the needs assessment and curriculum development of a second major in public health for undergraduates in the National University of Singapore, the first in Singapore. We used the integrated framework for curriculum development in higher education, which consisted of five stages.

A catalog of genetic loci associated with kidney function from analyses of a million individuals.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is responsible for a public health burden with multi-systemic complications. Through trans-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and independent replication (n = 1,046,070), we identified 264 associated loci (166 new). Of these, 147 were likely to be relevant for kidney function on the basis of associations with the alternative kidney function marker blood urea nitrogen (n = 416,178).

Using peer review to distribute group work marks equitably between medical students.

Background: Although peer assessment has been used for evaluating performance of medical students and practicing doctors, it has not been studied as a method to distribute a common group work mark equitably to medical students working in large groups where tutors cannot observe all students constantly.

Methods: The authors developed and evaluated a mathematical formulation whereby a common group mark could be distributed among group members using peer assessment of individual contributions to group work, maintaining inter-group variation in group work scores. This was motivated by community health projects undertaken by large groups of year four medical students at the National University of Singapore, and the new and old formulations are presented via application to 263 students in seven groups of 36 to 40 during the academic year 2012/2013.

Voluntary community service in medical school: A qualitative study on student leaders' motivations, experiences, and outcomes.

Background: Participation in community service within underprivileged communities among medical students is associated with numerous positive outcomes, such as promoting empathy, enhancing leadership qualities, and fostering civic and social responsibility. We conducted a qualitative study to understand the experiences, motivations and student-reported outcomes on personal growth, when medical students in a developed Asian country participate in local and overseas community services.

Methods: We recruited medical students from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSOM), National University of Singapore, who were leaders of a community service project organized in medical school.

Voluntary community service in medical school: a qualitative study on obstacles faced by student leaders and potential solutions.

Purpose: In medical school, students may participate in various community involvement projects (CIP), which serve disadvantaged communities. However, several obstacles may arise during these projects. The authors conducted a qualitative study with the primary aim of understanding the obstacles and corresponding potential solutions when medical students in Singapore participate in local CIP (LCIP) and overseas CIP (OCIP).

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies eight new loci for type 2 diabetes in east Asians.

We conducted a three-stage genetic study to identify susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in east Asian populations. We followed our stage 1 meta-analysis of eight T2D genome-wide association studies (6,952 cases with T2D and 11,865 controls) with a stage 2 in silico replication analysis (5,843 cases and 4,574 controls) and a stage 3 de novo replication analysis (12,284 cases and 13,172 controls). The combined analysis identified eight new T2D loci reaching genome-wide significance, which mapped in or near GLIS3, PEPD, FITM2-R3HDML-HNF4A, KCNK16, MAEA, GCC1-PAX4, PSMD6 and ZFAND3.

Bariatric surgery in Asia in the last 5 years (2005-2009).

Obesity is a major public health concern around the world, including Asia. Bariatric surgery has grown in popularity to combat this rising trend. An e-mail questionnaire survey was sent to all the representative Asia-Pacific Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Society (APMBSS) members of 12 leading Asian countries to provide bariatric surgery data for the last 5 years (2005-2009).

Association of variants in FRAP1 and PDGFRA with corneal curvature in Asian populations from Singapore.

Corneal curvature (CC) is a key determinant of major eye diseases, such as keratoconus, myopia and corneal astigmatism. No prior studies have discovered the genes for CC. Here we report the findings from four genome-wide association studies of CC in 10 008 samples from three population groups in Singapore.