About Us

About the Programme

Rheumatology is the specialty for you if you enjoy the challenges of clinical medicine and its diversity, as well as sharing long-term relationships with your patients.

At Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, we are committed to training the next generation of doctors to be patient-centric and academically-inclined Rheumatologists.

With our dedicated Faculty members, one-stop Autoimmunity and Rheumatology Centre and vast clinical and research resources, we are focused on providing you with the best learning experience needed to fully realise your potential to be a skilled practitioner and consultant in rheumatic diseases.

As a Rheumatology Senior Resident, you will be working in the Rheumatology department of Singapore’s largest tertiary teaching hospital. Our mission is to deliver state-of-the-art, cost-effective, holistic care for patients and to foster a collegial environment for learning, teaching and research. With over 20,000 ambulatory visits a year, our department has a large pool of patients with a wide spectrum of rheumatological and immunological conditions for you to participate in the management of these patients, and develop your clinical acumen in both medicine and autoimmune diseases.

Message from the Programme Director

This is an exciting time to be a Senior Resident in Rheumatology. Previously in the 1980s, getting a traineeship only guaranteed a posting in that specialty. Without a structured teaching programme, trainees often learnt on the job. Later in 2014, with the start of ACGME accreditation in Singapore for Rheumatology, we were exposed to how a structured specialist training programme was like and looked forward to a time when all trainees could have proper training here in Singapore.

Today, SGH has a well-structured ACGME-I accredited Rheumatology Senior Residency Programme. We have a comprehensive programme of international standard, Faculty who are passionate, experienced and dedicated to helping our Senior Residents succeed through close supervision and timely feedback, and a large patient pool in our Autoimmunity & Rheumatology Centre (ARC). The ARC is the first centre in the region to provide a one-stop service dedicated to complex rheumatic and autoimmune disorders, and was awarded the Centre of Excellence (2017) by the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) for our work in research, training, education and patient care, a recognition of the work of our passionate team of doctors. As a Senior Resident, you will have the opportunity to learn in ARC’s general Rheumatology, subspecialties (e.g. Early Arthritis clinic, Paediatrics-Adult Transition Care clinics, Systemic Sclerosis Clinic, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Clinic, Spondyloarthritis Clinic, Multidisciplinary Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic, Combined Psoriatic Arthritic and Psoriasis Clinic, Combined Rheumatology-Obstetrics Clinic, Combined Rheumatology-Uveitis Clinic, Combined Interstitial Lung Disease clinic etc.) as well as Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Clinics. Our inpatient Rheumatology service takes care of patients with a wide range of complicated rheumatic diseases. As a Senior Resident, you will also benefit from our hospital’s strength in having expertise in most, if not all adult medical and surgical specialties. These experts are regularly invited to teach our Residents. If your interest is in research, our department has a vibrant, nurturing, innovative and productive research culture and is accredited to train Clinician Scientist Residents in research. With our close association with Duke-NUS Medical School, our Senior Residents will have opportunities to participate in medical education.

SGH Rheumatology has a comprehensive programme in place and we are committed to making it better. While keeping abreast of the best practices in the world, we encourage our Senior Residents to provide feedback on how to further enhance our programme. A posting in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) will also enable you to enhance the learning of Paediatric Rheumatology. We also have electives to enhance interprofessional collaboration e.g. Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine, Physiotherapy/ Occupational Therapy/ Podiatry clinics, Immunodermatology clinics and Laboratory postings etc.

I would like to invite you to join our department as a Senior Resident to grow and serve our patients with us as a cohesive team, synergistically and with passion. I look forward to working closely with you and guide you to become the best Rheumatologist that you can be.

Clin Assoc Prof Warren Fong
Programme Director, Rheumatology
Senior Consultant, Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, SGH

Why Choose Rheumatology?

Passionate and Dedicated Faculty

At the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, we believe in letting you grow and discover your passion in clinical care, education and/or research. Through our team of dedicated and passionate Faculty with many years of teaching experience, you can be assured that you will be guided and tutored in your journey with us. Our Faculty enjoy teaching at various levels and strive to enhance teaching beyond Rheumatology, with emphasis on professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills.

Most Comprehensive Training in Rheumatology

Our Autoimmunity and Rheumatology Centre (ARC) was set up with Residents in mind. The rooms are designed such that you will have access to your supervisor with you or next door. The ARC also houses multi-purpose rooms that are designed to be converted to tutorial rooms for teaching of medical students and Residents.

To ensure that you have the highest level of competency in managing the most complicated and difficult Rheumatology cases, you will be attached to subspecialty clinics. In the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Clinic, you will be trained to perform musculoskeletal ultrasound to detect synovitis in the small joints. In addition, you will have an attachment to the Department of Paediatric subspecialties at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) and Department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. This will give you the opportunity to learn about paediatrics and adolescent rheumatic diseases, as well as common musculoskeletal diseases and sports injuries in both inpatient and outpatient settings. To further enhance your learning, you can participate in on-going departmental research activities and learn the concepts and intricacies of research in Rheumatology.

Range of Learning Opportunities

Apart from the usual bedside teaching and hands-on learning, our robust training programme includes weekly grand ward rounds, engaging lectures, journal clubs, tutorials and other important courses offered by the Centre for Resident and Faculty Development (CRAFD). Senior Residents will attend a series of bi-weekly National Core Rheumatology Series lectures together with your counterparts in the other hospitals.

Senior Residents who are interested in doing research will receive opportunities to work in research laboratories doing basic research or participate in clinical research. We are also an accredited programme for the Clinician Scientist (CS) Residency Track, which provides mentorship, structured research training, and research protected time to obtain your Master of Clinical Investigation (MCI) or an equivalent training qualification. Funding for projects is also available through the Reverie Rheumatology Research Fund (RRRF). Through our partnership with Duke-NUS Medical School and other research institutions, there are ample learning opportunities that you can take advantage of.

Your Career Prospects & Development

After your successful completion of the programme, you can choose one of numerous tracks such being excellent clinician, a clinician educator, a pioneering clinician researcher, a champion for quality improvement or an innovator harnessing information technology and artificial intelligence. All tracks are equally valued in our department as they are essential in helping us achieve our vision.