Financial burden and financial aid for medical students in Singapore: a national survey across all three medical schools

INTRODUCTION@#Singapore has had three medical schools since 2013. We undertook a cross-sectional quantitative national survey to determine the financial impact of medical education on medical students in Singapore.@*METHODS@#All 1,829 medical students in Singapore were invited to participate in this study. Information on demographics, financial aid utilisation and outside work was collected and analysed.@*RESULTS@#1,241 (67.9%) of 1,829 students participated in the survey. While the overall proportion of students from households with monthly incomes < SGD 3,000 was only 21.2% compared to the national figure of 31.4%, 85.4% of medical students expected to graduate with debts > SGD 75,000. There were significant differences in per capita incomes among the schools, with 54.5%, 23.3% and 7.8% of Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS), NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) students, respectively, reporting a per capita income of < SGD 1,000 (p < 0.001). There were significant differences in financial support: 75.0%, 34.1% and 38.8% of Duke-NUS, NUS Medicine and LKCMedicine students, respectively, received financial aid (p < 0.001). The top reasons for not applying for aid included a troublesome application process (21.4%) and the perception that it would be too difficult to obtain (21.0%).@*CONCLUSION@#Students in the three medical schools in Singapore differ in their financial needs and levels of financial support received. A national approach to funding medical education may be needed to ensure that financial burdens do not hamper the optimal training of doctors for Singapore's future.

Impact of financial background and student debt on postgraduate residency choices of medical students in Singapore

INTRODUCTION@#Medical school fees are rising globally. Student debt and financial background may affect residency choices, but few studies have been conducted in Asia. This study aimed to explore the relationship between financial background, student debt and postgraduate residency choices among medical students in Singapore.@*METHODS@#An anonymised survey of all medical students in Singapore was conducted and had a response rate of 67.9%.@*RESULTS@#40.5% of our study population would graduate with debt. Medical students with monthly per capita household income < SGD 1,000 were more likely to graduate with debt (unadjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-2.7; p < 0.001) and feel burdened by the cost of medical education (unadjusted OR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0-3.9; p < 0.001). Students with monthly per capita household income < SGD 1,000 (unadjusted OR 1.818, 95% CI 1.338-2.470, p < 0.001; adjusted OR 1.692, 95% CI 1.202-2.381, p = 0.003) and those with debt (unadjusted OR 1.623, 95% CI 1.261-2.090, p < 0.001; adjusted OR 1.393, 95% CI 1.048-1.851, p = 0.022) were more likely to rank at least one economic factor as 'very significant' in influencing their postgraduate training choices.@*CONCLUSION@#It is concerning that despite financial aid schemes, the cost of medical education remains a burden to students from lower-income households in Singapore. Student debt and financial background may distort postgraduate career choices, creating an undue push towards high-paying specialties.

The ethics of responding to a novel pandemic

Recent epidemics and pandemics have highlighted a number of ethical concerns about the response to the increasing threat of emerging infectious diseases. Some of these ethical concerns are very fundamental. They include why a pandemic was declared, how much clinical information can be collected for public health without threatening patient confidentiality and how to ensure fairness in the distribution of resources. We discuss these issues and suggest approaches to resolve these dilemmas as we anticipate the next pandemic.

Prospective audit of febrile neutropenia management at a tertiary university hospital in Singapore

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Febrile neutropenia (FN) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Oncology/Haematology units. We launched a new protocol for FN management that incorporates risk stratification at our institute from October 2008. An audit was performed concurrently to evaluate the protocol and to define the epidemiology of FN locally.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>Case records of all inpatients with FN between October 2008 and June 2009 were reviewed prospectively. Clinical and microbiological characteristics were collated along with outcomes and programme adherence. Statistical testing was performed using Stata 10.1.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 178 FN episodes (50 in patients with solid cancers) from 131 patients. Forty-two (23.6%) episodes were classified as high-risk according to MASCC criteria. Initial blood cultures were positive in 49 (27.5%) episodes, of which gram-negative bacilli (GNB) predominated. Overall compliance to the protocol was 56.7%, with the main issue being disinclination to use oral antibiotics as fi rst-line empirical therapy for low-risk episodes. Overall mortality was 7.3% and infection-related mortality was 4.5%. High-risk FN and the presence of central venous catheters were independently associated with bacteraemia on multivariate analysis, but there were no independent predictors of infection-related mortality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>GNB accounted for the majority of bloodstream infections at our institute, unlike data from developed countries. Uptake of the new FN protocol was satisfactory, although the use of oral antibiotics as fi rst-line empirical therapy can be improved. A better method for predicting infections caused by antibiotic-resistant GNB is urgently required, and antibiotic resistance trends should be monitored to enable the implementation of more appropriate antibiotic regimens over time.</p>

The efficacy of influenza vaccination in healthcare workers in a tropical setting: a prospective investigator blinded observational study

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Influenza vaccine has been shown to be highly effective in temperate regions with well-defined seasonal influenza. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are advised to receive regular influenza vaccination to protect themselves and their patients. However, there are limited data on the efficacy of influenza vaccine in HCWs in the tropics.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>In this observational, investigator blinded cohort study, bi-monthly questionnaires recording influenza-like illness (ILI) episodes and medical leave were administered to 541 HCWs at the Singapore National University Hospital and KK Women's and Children's Hospital from 2004 to 2005. ILI was defined according to a standard symptom score.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Baseline characteristics were comparable in both the vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups. Overall, the relative risk of self-reported ILI in vaccinated HCWs was 1.13 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98-1.13; P=0.107]; medical leave taken was lower in the vaccinated group [mean 0.26+/-0.6 days per visit, compared with 0.30+/-0.5 days in the non-vaccinated group (P=0.40)]. Because of the reported Northern Hemisphere 2003/04 vaccine mismatch, we stratified the cohort and determined that the group which received a matched vaccine had a relative risk of ILI of 0.49 (95% CI, 0.37-0.66; P<0.001), achieving a vaccine efficacy of 51%. Mean medical leave decreased significantly in HCWs who received the matched vaccine, compared with those who did not receive vaccination (0.13+/-0.3 vs 0.30+/-0.5; P<0.001) and with HCWs vaccinated with mismatched strains (0.13+/-0.3 vs 0.39+/-0.9; P=0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>A well-matched influenza vaccine is effective in preventing ILI and reducing sickness absence in healthcare workers in tropical settings. Efforts need to be made to increase influenza vaccination rates and to improve the currently available vaccines.</p>