Institution In Singapore Research Articles

Exploring musician-educators’ reflections on a collaborative cross-cultural music making encounter in Singapore

Professional musician-educators from a tertiary arts institution in Singapore collaborated on a cross-cultural performance in Beijing as part of their professional development. Through a case study, semi-structured interviews explored the music making experiences of four of the musician-educators involved: the composer, the singer, the pianist and the erhu performer. Their experiences address the concept of cross-cultural music making and its significance in professional development for musician-educators. The experiences shared by the four musician-educators illuminate challenges, tensions and some areas to further resolve and critically question regarding how cultures are engaged in the process of music-making. Through unpacking the narratives of musician-educators and how they experience interactions with culture in music making, there is the possibility to further understand diverse music making encounters in Singapore.

Students’ Non-Cognitive Profiles and their Relationships with Academic Stress and Persistence in Higher Education

To reduce their attrition rates, institutions need to ensure that their students can manage the stressors they confront in their academic work and persist to complete their study programs. Given the significance of non-cognitive attributes in education, this study aimed to identify the non-cognitive profiles exhibited by students which related significantly to academic stress and persistence levels in the middle of a given academic year. Undergraduate students from one of the largest private higher education institutions in Singapore participated in two online surveys. A total of 565 and 122 students participated in the first and second surveys, respectively. Results indicated that three distinct non-cognitive profiles could be identified, which were associated significantly with students’ academic stress levels and their intentions to persist with their studies. Possible implications for enhancing student outcomes by offering students with opportunities to enhance their affective ‘readiness’ profiles are discussed.

Profiles of women presenting for abortions in Singapore at the National University Hospital: focus on married women.

In this study, we aimed to identify the differences in sociodemographic variables and reasons for termination of pregnancy (TOP) between married women and single/divorced women. We hope that this study can guide future policies and interventions to reduce the incidence of unsupported pregnancies in this profile group of women. We retrospectively evaluated the sociodemographic data of 802 women who underwent an abortion for social reasons at our institution in Singapore from January 2016 to September 2018. We compared the sociodemographic variables, reasons for and methods of TOP between married and single/divorced women. We analysed data from 524 married women (65.3%) and 278 single/divorced women (34.7%). Married women were more likely to be of older age (29.5 years vs. 24.5 years, P < 0.001), had more living children and higher educational qualifications. The top two cited reason for abortions among married women were having enough children (42.0%) and the inability to afford another child (18.7%). Multivariate analysis showed that women aged >19 years and having more living children were independently associated with recurrent TOPs. Having a tertiary education was noted to be associated with less recurrent TOPs. The most common reasons married women cited for having TOP include having enough children and the lack of financial capacity to afford another child. Recommendations to support women ought to be personalised and comprehensive in addressing their needs rather than offering a standardised support method. Greater emphasis should be placed on post-TOP family planning counselling to reduce repeated TOP.

Assessment of the Impact of Smart City Initiatives on the Development of Urbanized Territories

Digitalization processes are penetrating deeper into various areas of urbanized territories, being a factor affecting the quality of life of the local population. One of the promising approaches for the development of urban areas in the context of digitalization is the concept of the smart city. Despite the significant popularity of the smart city concept among the scientific community, as well as municipal authorities, the impact of digitalization processes on the development of the urban environment, as well as the possibility of using digital technologies to solve emerging problems in the economic, social, and environmental spheres, has been studied very little. The aim of the study is to determine the dependencies between the implementation of smart city model initiatives and the development of individual subsystems of the urban environment. The paper shows that a significant part of modern research is of theoretical, descriptive nature, while there is a shortage of empirical research, the main purpose of which would be to identify quantitative patterns in the development of smart cities, which would contribute to the development of economic and mathematical approaches to the study of urbanized territories in the conditions of formation digital society. The research method used by the authors is correlation analysis. Using the cases of 118 cities from the Smart City Index 2021, prepared by the Singapore Institute of Technology and Design, the relationship between the implementation of ideas for the digitalization of the urban environment and improving the quality of individual components of the urban environment is shown. As a result of the study, strong correlations were identified between the introduction of digital technologies in the main areas of the urban economy and the development of the urban environment, the hypothesis about the impact of digitalization processes on the development of certain areas of management within urban areas was confirmed, relationships between the development of smart solutions within the urban environment and changes in quality were shown. life of the local population. The results obtained can become the basis for further research in the development of smart cities, as well as applied tools for the implementation of plans and strategies for the development of urban areas.

Radiofrequency Ablation of Benign Thyroid Nodules: Initial Review with Clinical Experience in Singapore

Introduction: Up to half of the population may have benign thyroid nodules, and currently surgery is still the mainstay for treatment. However, minimally invasive approaches such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) have been emerging in clinical practice in recent years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of RFA in treating benign thyroid nodules in our local population in Singapore. Methods: This retrospective study included a cohort of 22 patients (17 female, 5 male), who underwent RFA for benign thyroid nodules at our institute in Singapore, between March 2016 and May 2018. Initial assessment was carried out by ultrasound scanning, to measure pre-RFA nodule diameters, and fineneedle aspiration cytology, to confirm the nodules are histologically benign. Final nodule diameters and post-procedural complications were recorded at 12-months follow-up for all patients. The primary outcome was to investigate a reduction in nodule size, post RFA. The secondary outcome was to investigate any complications/adverse effects up to 12 months post-RFA.

Pediatric patch testing in a multi‐ethnic Asian population: A retrospective review

Pediatric allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is increasingly prevalent. Patch testing is the gold-standard diagnostic investigation. The aims of our study were to describe the clinical profile of pediatric patients with ACD in a multi-ethnic Asian population and identify the common contact allergens. This was a retrospective study involving children and adolescents aged 16years or younger with clinically suspected ACD who underwent patch testing between January 2007 and March 2020 at two institutions in Singapore. Information pertaining to their demographics, atopy history, clinical presentation, and patch test results was analyzed. A total of 252 patients were included. The mean age was 10.9years (1.0-16.7years). The majority were Chinese (79.8%) and girls (57.5%). Many (66.3%) had atopic dermatitis (AD), which was mild. The most common presentation was an acral eczematous rash. The sensitization rate was 50.0%. The most frequent reactions were to nickel sulfate (49.2%) and fragrance mix (19.1%). The overall rate of relevant positive patch tests was 72.5%. Patients with AD were less likely to have a reaction to fragrance mix (p=.019) and more likely to have a reaction to disperse blue (p=.041). Compared to younger children, adolescents were less likely to have a positive patch test (p=.008). Indians were also less likely to have a positive reaction (p=.004). Metals and fragrances were the most common allergens causing childhood ACD in Singapore. Patients with AD were less likely to be sensitized to fragrances and more likely to be sensitized to disperse blue dye.

Long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of collaborative care in people with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus and polypharmacy: A multicenter randomized controlled trial

AimsThis study examined the effectiveness of a collaborative care model on clinical and humanistic outcomes, medical cost, productivity loss, and its cost-effectiveness in managing uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). MethodsA randomized controlled study was conducted in two outpatient health institutions in Singapore. Patients aged above 21 years with HbA1c > 7% and polypharmacy were included. Eligible patients were randomized into the intervention (collaborative care) and control (usual care) arms. ResultsA total of 255 patients were included in the analysis. Compared to the control arm, the intervention arm achieved significantly greater glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) reduction (mean difference: 0.25, 95%CI: [0.001, 0.50], p = 0.049) and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) (+0.011, 95%CI: [0.003, 0.019], p = 0.011) at 12 months. The costs per additional HbA1c and QALY improvements over one year were $40.52 and $920.91 respectively. Activity impairment was lower in the intervention group both at 6 months (12.7% vs 19.0%; p = 0.022) and at 12 months (6.7% vs 14.0%; p = 0.008). ConclusionsThe collaborative care model achieved earlier HbA1c reduction and reduced patients’ activity impairment without decreasing work productivity or increasing medical costs. This intervention is cost-effective for improving glycemic control and quality of life in patients with T2DM.

Curriculum Innovation in Language Teacher Education: Reflections on the PGDELT Program’s Contributions to EFL Teachers’ Continuing Professional Development

AbstractInitial teacher preparation and teachers’ continuing professional development are two significant pillars of the teacher education enterprise. The former encompasses a wide range of teacher-education initiatives at the levels of diploma, bachelor’s degree, postgraduate diploma, and even master’s degree for teacher licensure purposes. These are widely documented in the literature. What is important is how teacher professional development contributes to bolstering the teacher-educator force, which is relatively insufficiently documented due to the very fact that different educational systems have somewhat different expectations of such programs in relation to the ideologies and theories underpinning the teacher professional development program design and curriculum offering. Taking stock of a postgraduate diploma program in English language teaching (PGDELT) for teachers’ continuing professional development with a 31-year history housed at a premier teacher education institution in Singapore, which has successfully graduated over 1, 000 English language teachers for colleges and universities in China, I intend to highlight some of its key features, as a former student and then a lecturer on the program, in order to draw implications for sustainable growth of language teacher education programs, especially those whose main purposes are to prepare teachers of English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) and provide continuing professional development opportunities for such inservice teachers.

Inter-Ethnic Differences in Valvular Dysfunction, Aortopathy, and Progression of Disease of an Asian Bicuspid Aortic Valve Population

There are differences in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) characteristics between Asian and European populations, but little is known about the inter-ethnic differences in bicuspid valve function and aortic root dimensions within the diverse Asian population. From 1992-2017, 562 patients with index echocardiographic diagnosis of BAV in a tertiary health care institution in Singapore were analysed according to their ethnic groups: Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian. Study outcomes included BAV complications (infective endocarditis, aortic dissection) and clinical outcomes (aortic valve surgery, aortic root surgery, all-cause mortality). Total events were defined as composite outcome of all BAV complications and outcomes. Aortic dimensions and aortic dilatation rates were also studied. There were 379 (67.5%) Chinese, 79 (14.0%) Malay, 73 (13.0%) Indian, and 31 (5.5%) Eurasian patients. Type 1 BAV (58.5%) was the most prevalent BAV morphology, with moderate-to-severe aortic stenosis (AS) (36.8%) being the most common complication in the overall population. There was a higher prevalence of type 0 BAV in Chinese and Indian groups, and type 1 BAV with fusion of left-right coronary cusp in Eurasian and Malay groups (p=0.082). There was no difference in significant AS among groups. The highest prevalence of moderate-to-severe aortic regurgitation was observed amongst the Eurasian group, followed by Chinese, Indian, and Malay groups (p=0.033). The Chinese group had the largest mean indexed diameters of the aortic root. Multivariable linear regression demonstrated that only the Chinese had significantly larger indexed diameters in the aortic annulus, sinotubular junction (STJ), and ascending aorta (AA), relative to the Eurasian group, after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, and aortic regurgitation. On follow-up echocardiography, there was a trend towards the highest dilatation rates of sinus of Valsalva and STJ amongst Indian, and AA amongst Malay groups. Kaplan-Meier curves showed the highest incidence of total events amongst Chinese, followed by Malay, Indian and Eurasian (log-rank=9.691; p=0.021) patients. There were differences in BAV morphology, valve dysfunction, aortopathy, and prognosis within the Asian population. Chinese patients had one of the highest prevalence of significant aortic regurgitation, with the largest aortic dimensions and worst outcomes compared with other Asian ethnicities. Closer surveillance is warranted in BAV patients within the Asian population.

Novel local anesthesia technique ‘NATURE ’ (Nerves And Transversalis-fascia Using RopivacainE) to improve outcomes during endo-laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair

BackgroundThe use of local anaesthesia infiltration techniques may attenuate pain following endo-laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery. We aim to reduce post-operative pain and the subsequent need for analgesia using a novel technique of local anaesthesia infiltration ‘NATURE’ (Nerves And Transversalis-fascia Using RopivacainE). MethodsThis is a retrospective study of patients who underwent endo-laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair in two institutions in Singapore. Patients who received the local anaesthesia according to the new technique (intervention group) were compared to patients who received local anaesthesia only over their surgical incisions (control group). ResultsData on 97 patients were analysed. There were 50 (51.5%) patients in the intervention group and 47 (48.5%) patients in the control group. No significant differences were observed in the two patient population's baseline characteristics, operative time and cumulative need for medications. The intervention group reported lower pain levels immediately after surgery (1.4 ± 1.7 versus 2.4 ± 1.9, p<0.01) and at 4 hours post-surgery (0.9 ± 1.1 versus 1.4 ± 1.2, p = 0.02). They also had lower levels of post-operative complications (4% versus 21.3%, p = 0.03). ConclusionInfiltration of local anaesthesia at specific anatomical locations during endo-laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery can be effective in minimising post-operative pain. Prospective randomised controlled trials are needed to further substantiate this technique.

Burnout and resilience among pharmacists: A Singapore study

AbstractBackgroundRising demand in healthcare in recent years has placed significant stress on healthcare professionals and has inevitably led to increasing levels of burnout. While associated factors and negative consequences of burnout have been quantified within various professions, there is a paucity of data describing its prevalence and impact among pharmacists, and within the Asia‐Pacific region.ObjectivesTo assess the prevalence of, and characterize risk factors, that may be associated with burnout among pharmacists in patient care sectors in Singapore.MethodsA cross‐sectional survey was conducted among pharmacists in patient care sectors in Singapore from February to April 2020. Participation invites to the survey were disseminated by pharmacy managers in patient care areas across all healthcare institutions in Singapore. The Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI‐HSS) was used to assess the prevalence of burnout in the respondent, and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) to evaluate resilience and empathy respectively. Demographic characteristics were also collected and summarized. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore associations between burnout and potential risk factors. Possible impact from burnout was also assessed as part of the questionnaire. Burnout was defined as a high emotional exhaustion (EE, ≥27) or depersonalization (DP, ≥10) score on the MBI‐HSS.ResultsSeven hundred and six out of 1289 pharmacists (54.8%) completed the survey, of which 61.5% of respondents experienced burnout. Factors associated with burnout included institution of practice, hours at work, number of patient care hours, resilience, and empathy. Pharmacists with burnout had a higher propensity to seek a job change, were less satisfied with work, and took more medical leave than non‐burnout counterparts.ConclusionBurnout among Singapore pharmacists is prevalent and deserves attention. Comprehensive strategies are needed to mitigate the potential negative consequences that may arise from increasing levels of burnout.

Simulation in surgical education: a review of a multi- tiered gynaecological laparoscopy workshop

Background: While minimally access approach has become the gold standard for many gynaecological procedures, laparoscopic surgery has a steep learning curve and many trainees face challenges acquiring the necessary skills. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-tiered laparoscopy simulation workshop for gynaecology residents. Approach: An observational study was conducted at SingHealth Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Institute of Medical Simulation Centre (SIMS) between November 2016 and November 2017. Gynaecology residents were recruited to attend two separate one-day workshops held in November 2016 and November 2017 respectively, involving didactic lectures, dry-lab simulation and animal training. Participants rated various learning domains of the training workshops using a five-point scale Likert in pre- and post-workshop surveys. Findings: The study enrolled 16 residents in total. On a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (1 being poor and 5 being excellent), participants rated significant improvement in domains of general laparoscopy skills acquisition (1.7 + 0.6 to 4.9 + 0.4; p&lt;0.001), dry lab simulation (1.9 + 0.5 to 4.8 + 0.4; p&lt;0.001), confidence in laparoscopy suturing skills (1.1 + 0.3 to 4.8 + 0.4; p&lt;0.001) and laparoscopy knowledge (2.1 + 0.5 to 4.7 + 0.5; p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: A combination of didactic lectures, dry-lab simulation and animal training under expert supervision and guidance dramatically improved surgical skills and confidence in gynaecology residents. Such a multi-tiered format allows for effective learning and acquisition of laparoscopic skills.

The Rise of Alternative Proteins (Vol. 25, No. 9, Full Issue)

For the month of September 2021, APBN looks at what we can do as consumers to contribute to our global endeavour towards a greener planet. In Features, we have an article contribution by Monique Suryokusumo from Monde Nissin Corporation to share with us the current innovations in the alternative protein arena and the key factors that will integrate it into the mainstream. In Spotlights, we spoke to professors at the Singapore Institute of Technology to learn more about how the institute and its collaborators will push for a more sustainable Singapore with their key initiatives. Then, we cover the key highlights from the Future Food Asia 2021 conference, where we hear about the new developments in the agritech food space and how we may utilise technology to build a more balanced food system. Moving away from sustainability, we learn more about maternal mental health from the Third Temasek Shophouse Conversations, and we also hear from Dr. Sanjay Prabhu, who will enlighten us about a rare condition plaguing children with COVID-19 in India

Good Times, Bad Times: Temporal Perspectives on Creative Work

The most influential theories of creativity, from Wallas (1926) to Amabile (1983) and beyond, have emphasized the processes of creativity, often through a stage model of creativity over time. Central (though often implicit) in these conceptualizations is the role of time, yet temporal perspectives remain relatively unexplored in research on creativity. Despite the recent recognition of time's importance within the creativity literature, many important questions still remain. Time is especially critical for organizational scholars of creativity; organizations generally create temporal structures, such as schedules, timelines, routines, and deadlines, that shape how individuals work. Our symposium will present some emerging work taking a temporal perspective on creativity--from facilitators of creativity at different stages of the idea journey to how creative workers handle extreme time pressure--and help advance the scholarly conversation around creative processes in organizations. Spirited Away: Toward a Dynamic Theory of Cross-Disciplinary Innovation Presenter: Kevyn Yong; Singapore Institute of Management Presenter: Pier Vittorio Mannucci; London Business School A Qualitative Study of How Coworking Can Spark Learning and Creativity Over Time in Makerspaces Presenter: Ozumcan Demir Caliskan; U. College London Presenter: Colin Muneo Fisher; UCL School of Management Task vs. Project Persistence in Long-Duration Creative Projects Presenter: Greg Fetzer; Boston College Thriving under Pressure: Creative Practices under Extreme Time Pressure Presenter: Wenxin Xie; U. College London Presenter: Sarah Harvey; UCL School of Management

Preface

2021 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Algorithms (AI2A 2021) planned to be held from July 23-25, 2021 in Guilin, China was changed to be held virtually. Considering the unpredictable situation of COVID-19, the pandemic-related nationwide lockdowns, other coordinated restrictive measures, as well as the health and safety of our participants and members of our research community is of top priority to the organizing committee. Therefore, the AI2A 2021 conference was eventually held online through Zoom software.AI2A 2021 is to bring together innovative academics and industrial experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Algorithms to a common forum. The primary goal of the conference is to promote research and developmental activities in Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Algorithms and another goal is to promote scientific information interchange between researchers, developers, engineers, students, and practitioners working all around the world.The conference was divided into three sessions, including keynote speeches, oral presentations, and poster presentations. In the keynote presentation’s part, we have 5 renowned professors present their insightful speeches. Each speaker allocated 40-50 minutes including 5min for Q&A to hold their speeches. Prof. Saman Halgamuge from The University of Melbourne, Prof. Chia-Feng Juang from National Chung Hsing University, Prof. Dapeng Oliver Wu, University of Florida, USA, Prof. Yaroslav D. Sergeyev from University of Calabria and Assoc. Prof. Andrew Keong Ng from Singapore Institute of Technology. For oral presentations, some authors were given approximately 10-15 minutes to perform their oral presentations one by one.AI2A 2021 received more than 48 manuscripts, and 17 submissions have been accepted. All accepted papers under the Journal’s Peer Review Policy were strictly selected based on originality, significance, relevance, and contribution to the area after being peer-reviewed. AI2A 2021 follows a double-blind reviewing process to make the review process as fair as possible, both reviewers’ and authors’ identities remain anonymous.We would like to acknowledge all editors, staff, committee members, reviewers, and authors who contributed to the conference. The help and contribution of each individual and institution were instrumental in the success of the conference. Each individual and institutional help were very important for the success of this conference. In particular, we would like to thank the organizing committee for its valuable inputs in shaping the conference program and reviewing the submitted papers.Conference Committee are available in this pdf

Septic Arthritis in Paediatric Patients: A 10-year Experience at a Single Institution

Background We evaluated the clinical presentation and microbiological profile of a cohort of paediatric patients with septic arthritis at a tertiary institution in Singapore. Methods After obtaining institutional board approval, records of all patients below 18 years presenting with septic arthritis between 2010 and 2019 were reviewed. Patient demographic and medical data were analysed. Results Of 24 patients with 26 infected joints with a mean age of 7.1 years, 50.0% had pre-existing atopic dermatitis. The most common site infected was the hip ( n = 11, 42.3%). The most common pathogen isolated from tissue cultures was methicillin-sensitive-Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) ( n = 9, 37.5%). Twenty-three (95.8%) of the patients underwent surgical drainage. Conclusions The skin of patients with atopic dermatitis has been shown to be more frequently colonised with Staphylococcus aureus compared to healthy individuals. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis in our cohort was higher compared to the reported national average of 20.8%. MSSA was the most commonly reported pathogen, and the hip joint most commonly affected. Less than half of the cohort had positive tissue or blood cultures. In paediatric patients with known atopic dermatitis who present with a fever, a painful joint and limited range of motion, septic arthritis should be considered and early drainage and antibiotics instituted.

Using Domain Knowledge and Data-Driven Insights for Patient Similarity Analytics.

Patient similarity analytics has emerged as an essential tool to identify cohorts of patients who have similar clinical characteristics to some specific patient of interest. In this study, we propose a patient similarity measure called D3K that incorporates domain knowledge and data-driven insights. Using the electronic health records (EHRs) of 169,434 patients with either diabetes, hypertension or dyslipidaemia (DHL), we construct patient feature vectors containing demographics, vital signs, laboratory test results, and prescribed medications. We discretize the variables of interest into various bins based on domain knowledge and make the patient similarity computation to be aligned with clinical guidelines. Key findings from this study are: (1) D3K outperforms baseline approaches in all seven sub-cohorts; (2) our domain knowledge-based binning strategy outperformed the traditional percentile-based binning in all seven sub-cohorts; (3) there is substantial agreement between D3K and physicians (κ = 0.746), indicating that D3K can be applied to facilitate shared decision making. This is the first study to use patient similarity analytics on a cardiometabolic syndrome-related dataset sourced from medical institutions in Singapore. We consider patient similarity among patient cohorts with the same medical conditions to develop localized models for personalized decision support to improve the outcomes of a target patient.

Attitudes of teaching faculty towards clinical teaching of medical students in an emergency department of a teaching institution in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Singapore experienced the COVID-19 outbreak from January 2020 and Emergency Departments (ED) were at the forefront of healthcare activity during this time. Medical students who were attached to the EDs had their clinical training affected. Methods: We surveyed teaching faculty in a tertiary teaching hospital in Singapore to assess if they would consider delivering clinical teaching to medical students during the outbreak and conducted a thematic analysis of their responses. Results: 53.6% felt that medical students should not undergo clinical teaching in the ED and 60.7% did not wish to teach medical students during the outbreak. Three themes arose during the analysis of the data - Cognitive Overload of Clinical Teachers, Prioritisation of Clinical Staff Welfare versus Medical Students, and Risk of Viral Exposure versus Clinical Education. Conclusion(s): During a pandemic, a balance needs to be sought between clinical service and education, and faculty attitudes towards teaching in high-risk environments can shift their priorities in favour of providing the former over the latter.

Ageing Better: Breakthroughs and Innovations for a Greying World (Vol. 25, No. 7, Full Issue)

For the month of July 2021, APBN looks at how we can make society a more age-friendly place for our elderly. In Features, we speak to professors from the Singapore Institute of Technology to learn more about how they plan to tackle urban ageing so that our elderly do not get left behind. Then we have an article contribution by Dr Daniel Tan, Director and Senior Radiation Oncologist at Asian Alliance Radiation &amp; Oncology, on a new treatment option for patients with glioblastoma multiforme. In Columns, we step into the future of digital therapeutics as Hema Thiagarajah, Vice President and Client Partner for Appnovation APAC, shares with us the many ways digital therapeutics can deliver better patient outcomes. Finally, in Spotlights, we have SingHealth Polyclinic to reveal how being on more medications can be counter-productive, and an interview with Eric Mansion, General Manager of Asia Zone for Sanofi Pasteur, to elaborate more on the value of life-course immunisation and how Sanofi plans to improve vaccine access in Asia.

Inclusive Transnational Education Partnerships: A Case Study of a Master of Arts in TESOL Program

Recent nationalist and isolationist policies coupled with travel restrictions have prompted a shift in perspectives on the internationalization of higher education. Furthermore, criticisms surrounding issues such as the widespread adoption of English as a medium of instruction in higher education and quality assurance of transnational programs have emerged, with increasing calls for more inclusive models and greater emphasis on quality over quantity. This paper presents an evaluative study of a transnational Master of Arts in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MATESOL) program delivered in partnership by an institution in Singapore (SI) and a university in New Zealand (NZU) and designed for English language teachers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Drawing on an impact evaluation, the paper identifies key design features in the program that contributed to its effectiveness as an inclusive model of English medium instruction (EMI) and internationalization in transnational higher education (TNHE).