Industry and radiology in Singapore

Singapore is an ideal educational and commercial hub because of its its central location within Asia, its excellent communication and transportation network, and its ability to remain in the forefront of technology where medical equipment and radiology are concerned. Technologists well trained and fluent in more than one language with an excellent command of English ensures that they benefit from their training stints overseas. From the manufacturer's vantage point, the training center at NUH remains a highly developed center of excellence in Asia, functioning as a shop window for potential clients. Catering to both technologists and radiologists, the center represents the manufacturer's contribution to growth and continued up-grading of the standards in Southeast Asia. We hope that this experiment, the only concrete attempt by any manufacturer in contributing to the radiologic community in Singapore and Southeast Asia, will continue to grow and to develop and become a channel for industry to continue such contributions. One important question that must be addressed is whether all equipment must be purchased from this one manufacturer. There is no such arrangement, and whatever equipment is needed is purchased from any source, depending on budgetary constraints and other restrictions. We believe that training and contributing to the growth, understanding, and application of all modalities in radiology should be worldwide, but organized regionally. In planning training programs, companies must look beyond their countries of origin and rely more heavily on input from their local, regional, and national offices. We hope that the program we have established will serve as a model that can be used elsewhere.