College of Surgeons, Singapore

Overview of Orthopaedic Surgery in Singapore

Modern orthopaedic surgery in Singapore started in 1952 with the establishment of a University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the General Hospital campus under Professor J A P Cameron. Before 1952, fractures and orthopaedic diseases were treated on an ad hoc basis by general surgeons. In 1956, a government department of orthopaedic surgery under Mr D W C Gawne was set up also in the General Hospital. In these early days, the common problems were infection of bone and joints like tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, leprosy and cerebral palsy.

In 1973, a spinal rehabilitation centre was set up in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. This was due to the untiring efforts of Mr N Balachandran who even sought the help of Sir George Bedbrook to convince the government of the urgency. Financial help came from a local philanthropist, Dato Lee Chee Shan.

The idea of an ASEAN Orthopaedic Association was first mooted in 1977 at the SICOT Meeting in Kyoto among the delegates from Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore. Subsequent events culminated in the inaugural meeting in Manila in February 1981.

Message from the Chapter Chairman, A/Prof Tan Seang Beng

The Chapter of Orthopaedic Surgeons had made the first step in forging a closer collaboration with its specialty society, the Singapore Orthopaedic Association (SOA), by co-organizing a symposium on "Specialist training and accreditation" during the Annual Scientific Meeting of the SOA that was held in November 2008. The Chapter hopes to continue this partnership with SOA in providing continuing medical education to its members and trainees.

In order to assist hospitals in retaining good temporarily-registered foreign doctors the Chapter has implemented the Diploma in Orthopaedic Surgery under the Staff Registrar Scheme (SRS) jointly with the Academy of Medicine Singapore and the College of Surgeons Singapore in 2008. The apprenticeship style of training in this structured programme would allow SRS trainees to manage learning as well as equipping them with the competencies and core surgical skills of Orthopaedic Surgery within a stipulated timeframe.

The Chapter will continue to look into the academic and professional development of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Singapore and concurrently, will also look at the possibility and purpose of forming a new College for better future development of the specialty.