(Photo credits: Duke-NUS Medical School)
Congratulations to Dr Jai Rao, Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Neurosurgery (NNI@SGH) for receiving the Academic Medicine Education Institute Golden Apple Award 2024. Dr Jai shares the experiences that shaped him as an educator and his hopes for future clinicians.
Dr Jai Rao was born with teaching in his blood: his grandfather was a school principal and his father was a university lecturer. So, when Dr Rao became a doctor, it felt natural for him to carry on this legacy – from teaching medical officers during his neurosurgery residency training to becoming a clinician educator and Program Director of the Singapore Integrated Neurosurgery Programme.
“I’ve always enjoyed teaching as I believe education is a fair way to level the playing field and for people to improve themselves and their lives,” says Dr Rao, who is also Clinical Assistant Professor,
Duke-NUS Medical School.
Dr Rao has applied this principle to his own life. While the ‘art’ of teaching came naturally to him, he pursued a Master of Science (Health Professions Education) to learn the academic side, such as curriculum planning and how to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes.
Putting his learning into practice, Dr Rao overhauled the Neurosurgery residency programme's National Tutorial Training schedule to encourage self-directed learning. This approach has been well received by residents in allowing them to reinforce their understanding of core concepts and clinical scenarios.
Dr Rao also teaches first year medical students at Duke-NUS, where he uses technology to inspire enthusiasm for learning and help students get to grips with the most feared subject: neuroanatomy.
Bridging Gaps with Technology
Understanding the anatomy of the brain is essential for medical students, but it poses unique challenges for teaching due to its complexity and the limited access to brain specimens making it difficult to visualise.
To address these difficulties, Dr Rao has developed 3D models of the brain and spearheaded the use of technology, such as Primal Virtual Reality headsets and the Anatomage table, an interactive digital dissection tool with high resolution images of every system and organ in the human body, including the brain.
“Such technology-enhanced learning provides medical students with an immersive experience of brain anatomy, but to be effective, it needs to be used with lesson plans that are tied to the curriculum. Students also need to know the basic concepts and understand the context as to why this knowledge matters, which is why teaching is still very important,” said Dr Rao.
Beyond Neuroscience Education
Dr Rao has applied his teaching skills to other areas of healthcare, such as educating and nurturing the next generation of clinician educators. As a co‐developer and facilitator of the Junior Educators Development Initiative (JEDI), he has mentored more than 40 junior residents in programme evaluation techniques and educational frameworks, gearing them to lead future educational projects.
“Jai is a passionate and multi-talented clinician, innovator and educator. He has the ability to see issues at the system level, has a clear view of the goals and is laser-focussed when strategising and planning how to achieve them,” shares
Associate Professor Kevin Tan, Director, Education and Senior Consultant, Neurology, NNI. “He is an Impact Player, not just in the field of neurosurgical education, but also in the wider health professions education community, and areas of quality improvement, risk management and wellness.”
Beyond the clinical arena, Dr Rao also leads efforts in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) as the appointed Chair for the SingHealth Education Taskforce. He developed two online modules, which have trained over 30,000 SingHealth staff in basic ERM principles, providing essential knowledge to enhance organisational resilience. A certificate course in ERM is slated for launch in 2025, offering interested individuals a pathway into ERM careers.
Using education as a ‘stepping-stone’
Dr Rao holds to the principle that “teaching is for now, but learning is for the future”. He believes that education should not only address immediate needs, but equip learners with skills like critical thinking, problem solving and adaptability - essential traits in navigating an evolving healthcare landscape and life in general.
“At school and university, we are told what we need to study to move on to the next stage, but when we enter the workforce, these decisions fall on the individual. So, it is important to have a clear understanding of your priorities and what you want to do,” says Dr Rao. “As life and circumstances change, use education to improve yourself, because purposeful education is always a stepping-stone to something greater.”
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