Smith+Nephew opens Singapore academy for APAC healthcare pros

Global medical technology firm Smith+Nephew has opened its Smith+Nephew (S+N) Academy Singapore, a medical education and digital innovation centre covering the Asia-Pacific region.

Supporting Smith+Nephew’s purpose of “Life Unlimited”, the S+N Academy Singapore aims to provide an engaging, immersive, and interactive training environment for healthcare professionals from across the region to experience the latest products and technologies, and refine their techniques under the guidance of expert peers.

Deepak Nath, CEO of Smith+Nephew, said the facility will provide the right environment and tools for thought leaders to challenge the status quo, refining new technologies and surgical techniques to improve outcomes for patients.

“Smith+Nephew has a strong and successful business in Asia-Pacific and ambitious growth plans to provide our medical technology to more surgeons and nurses,” said Myra Eskes, president of APAC and Global Service at Smith+Nephew.

“It is impossible to overstate the importance of education and hands-on experience as we take customers on this journey, and the new Academy will be vital in improving access to the latest innovation to drive better clinical outcomes,” said Eskes.

S+N Academy Singapore includes a state-of-the-art digital operating suite which includes handheld robotics, 4K arthroscopy towers, surgical navigation tools, live transmission capabilities, and touch-screen interfaces. 

The digital experience is supported by a virtual reality simulation studio, a tech-enabled teaching auditorium, and a professional broadcast studio where experts can record and livestream surgical techniques to educate fellow healthcare professionals across the globe.

S+N Academy Singapore also has fully equipped surgical super-stations for hands-on procedural training across Smith+Nephew’s entire portfolio, which includes orthopaedic reconstruction; trauma; robotics; sports medicine; ear, nose and throat; and advanced wound management.

Up to 3,500 healthcare providers are expected to attend in-person courses at S+N Academy Singapore every year by 2025, with another 5,000 being trained through digital technology.

In addition, S+N Academy Singapore will partner on initiatives within the wider healthcare community, including collaboration with start-ups, early-stage investors, and industry partners to support the development of new innovations, and medical institutions to utilise the latest training infrastructure.

Opening courses include peer-to-peer flagship programmes designed specifically for the Asia-Pacific region under the brands INSPIRE for Sports Medicine, and ASPIRE for Orthopaedic Reconstruction and Robotics.

These courses will feature 50 distinguished global faculty and provide peer-to-peer education to 200 healthcare professionals from Asia-Pacific.