The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Malaya (in Singapore) was established in 1952. Prior to this, the teaching of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University was undertaken by the Department of Surgery under the Professor of Surgery and Professor of Clinical Surgery. From a course consisting of 15 weekly classes on fractures for 18 undergraduates in the late 1930s, and the clinical postings in orthopaedic surgery for over 40 students in 1952, the programme now encompasses an exposure to musculoskeletal diseases and trauma in all 5 years of the undergraduate course. Over this time, the spectrum of clinical conditions has also changed, and with it the emphasis on the conditions to be taught; from that dealing primarily with tuberculosis of bones and joints, poliomyelitis, and childhood deformity, to those resulting from degenerative disorders, sports injuries, industrial and motor vehicle accidents, and cancer. The students are now taught orthopaedic surgery in all the major public hospitals. Local postgraduate training programmes for orthopaedic surgery started in the 1980s. From 1993, a more structured training and assessment programme was introduced for basic and advanced training in surgery and orthopaedics. Advanced trainees rotate through the various teaching hospitals to expose them to a wider range of orthopaedic problems as well as teachers. The postgraduate training programme is now well established, and Singapore is accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh as an orthopaedic training centre for higher surgical training.
The Orthopaedic specialty service in Singapore began in 1952 with the appointment of J A P Cameron to the chair of Orthopaedics at the University of Malaya and the simultaneous establishment of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the General Hospital, Singapore. A second department--a government department of orthopaedic surgery was established in 1959, under the headship of Mr D W C Gawne also at the General Hospital, Singapore to cater to the increasing workload. Although orthopaedic services were already available at Alexandra Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Toa Payoh Hospital from as early as 1974, the formal establishment of a Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in these hospitals took place only in 1977. The pioneering local orthopaedic surgeons--Mr W G S Fung, Mr K H Yeoh, and Mr V K Pillay--joined the orthopaedic service in 1961. In 1967, Prof Pillay and Mr Fung took the leadership role at the University Orthopaedic Department and Government Orthopaedic Department, General Hospital, Singapore, respectively. Subspecialty services in orthopaedic surgery began in the late 1970s, and currently, at least 7 subspecialties have developed to divisional status at one or more hospitals. In 2001, there were 92 registered Orthopaedic specialists and just over a third were in private practice.