Distinguished clinician-scientist Professor Marcus Ong is first Singaporean emergency medicine physician elected to National Academy of Medicine, USA

Professor Marcus Ong Eng Hock, Senior Consultant, Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), has become the first Emergency Medicine specialist from Singapore to be elected to the United States National Academy of Medicine (NAM). He is the fourth Singaporean to join the Academy.

Election to NAM is widely regarded as one of the highest international recognitions in healthcare. Members are elected by their peers in recognition of significant contributions to medicine, research and healthcare. Prof Ong’s election reflects the contributions of Singapore’s healthcare and research community to advancing healthcare practices and improving patient outcomes globally.

A non-profit, non-governmental organisation, the NAM provides leadership and evidence-based advice on critical issues in health, medicine and science. Up to 90 American and 10 international members are elected each year.

Over his career spanning more than 20 years, Prof Ong has combined clinical practice with research, education, and policy work to advance emergency medicine in Singapore and the region. He is widely recognised for his work in tackling out of hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) and has helped shape Singapore’s prehospital emergency care policies while fostering regional collaboration in resuscitation science.

Some of his prominent work includes collaborating with Singapore Civil Defence Force on initiatives to improve survival after OHCA such as the myResponder app, which alerts trained volunteers to nearby suspected OHCA cases. Together with programmes that expanded public CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training, and dispatcher-assisted CPR, these initiatives have increased the likelihood of bystander CPR by nearly eightfold and improved survival following OHCA by more than threefold in Singapore^[1].

The “Global Resuscitation Alliance Modified Framework for Survival” which he developed to provide recommendations for developing emergency care systems to build capability and improve cardiac arrest survival, was supported and disseminated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Emergency and Trauma Care programme. He also helped establish the Pan Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study, on which he serves as Chairman. It is a collaborative research network aimed at studying and improving out of hospital cardiac arrest and prehospital emergency care in the Asia-Pacific region. The network has published over 40 collaborative studies looking at interventions and variations among prehospital emergency care systems across Asia that can improve OHCA outcomes.

Prof Ong also serves as Director of the Health Services Research Centre, SingHealth; Provost Chair and Director of the Health Services Research & Population Health as well as Prehospital and Emergency Research Centre at Duke-NUS Medical School; Director, Data and Analytics for the Unit of Prehospital Emergency Care under Singapore's Ministry of Health.

He said, “It is an honour to be elected to the United States of America’s National Academy of Medicine. Beyond a personal achievement, this accolade reflects the collective efforts of many mentors, colleagues, collaborators, trainees, and students, whom I have had the privilege of working alongside throughout my career. While much has been accomplished, there remain opportunities to further improve emergency care through science, innovation, and international collaboration, and I hope this recognition will inspire future generations of clinicians and researchers to pursue bold ideas that can make a meaningful difference to patients and society.” 

Assoc Prof Loo Chian Min, Chairman, Medical Board, SGH, said, “Marcus' election to the National Academy of Medicine is a remarkable personal achievement and an affirmation of Singapore's standing as a trusted contributor to global healthcare advancement. His work demonstrates how innovations developed in Singapore can improve patient outcomes at home while informing healthcare practices internationally. We are proud that his achievements have brought international recognition to Singapore's emergency care and research community, and we congratulate him on this prestigious honour.”

“On behalf of SingHealth, my heartiest congratulations to Marcus on this truly distinguished honour of being elected to one of the most prestigious bodies in health, medicine and biomedical sciences. This remarkable achievement reflects the depth and breadth of his sterling contributions to emergency medicine, research and patient care. Marcus embodies the spirit of SingHealth’s vision to define tomorrow’s medicine in the tremendous impact he has made both in Singapore and on the world stage. I hope this will inspire our clinicians and researchers to continue pushing the boundaries of excellence in medicine to improve the lives of our patients,” said Prof Ng Wai Hoe, Group Chief Executive Officer, SingHealth.

Professor Patrick Tan, Dean of Duke-NUS, said, “We are immensely proud of Marcus. His election recognises not only his outstanding contributions to academic medicine, but also the passion, energy and leadership he has brought to improving patient care and health systems. This also speaks to the strength of Singapore’s academic medicine ecosystem and what becomes possible when research, clinical care and health systems come together. Marcus’ work exemplifies the kind of impact we aspire to achieve through the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre.”

_{[1] doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30140-7}