Visit from the National University of Singapore | Yuko Takeda, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care
2023.05.30
On May 10 and 11, a delegation of ten people from the National University of Singapore (NUS), including the Dean of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Head of The Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, visited Keio University. NUS is highly regarded, ranking 11th in the world in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, and is known as the top university in Asia. It has agreements with universities, faculties, and graduate schools around the world, and during this visit to Japan, they planned to visit several partner institutions, with Keio University being one of them.
Professor Yasumichi Arai of our faculty and Professor Koh Woon Puay of NUS are longtime research partners, and their ongoing cohort study on the elderly led to this visit. A joint conference was held, co-hosted with the Center for Supercentenarian Medical Research, which is central to the research. The joint conference began with an introduction to research on aging at NUS by Dean Chong Yap Seng of the School of Medicine, and the morning of the first day was dedicated to an exchange of information on research and education at both universities.
Dean Chong of the School of Medicine and Head of Nursing Emily Ang each presented the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care with an orchid ornament, the national flower of Singapore.
Regarding nursing education, Associate Professor Liaw Sok Ying from The Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies spoke about its history. ( The Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, "Our History" )
The center was established in 2005 as the first in Singapore to offer a bachelor's degree program in nursing, and has since established master's and Doctoral Programs, trained advanced practice nurses, and granted prescriptive authority through a joint program with the pharmacy department, constantly taking on new initiatives. In response to strong demand, in 2018, it admitted more than six times the number of students from its inaugural class of 2006, and its education has received high acclaim,
ranking 10th in the world and 1st in Asia in the QS rankings for nursing. In 2022, they created a "manga" to share the experiences of nursing students, particularly their efforts in confronting COVID-19, as part of a broad public relations effort. (They kindly brought many copies of the "manga" as souvenirs.) The presentation was very energetic, and I could feel the powerful appeal that has earned them such a high reputation.
Despite a tight schedule that included visits to a home-visit nursing station in Tokyo, a tour of the SFC campus on the second day, a community-based long-term care welfare facility, and the Robo Care Center, the delegation participated energetically in all activities. They seemed particularly interested in home care in Japan, a country at the forefront of an aging society. Furthermore, during their interactions with our faculty, they expressed a strong desire for NUS students to participate in our faculty's short-term study abroad acceptance program, which is an elective course.
The exchange during this visit was a great inspiration for our faculty members, and we hope to seize this momentum to foster future collaboration and development.