Endocrinology is the branch of medicine concerned with endocrine glands/systems located in different parts of the body (e.g. pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, gonads, adrenal glands, pancreatic islets, gut, endothelium and bone). These organs secrete hormones to regulate growth, metabolism and reproduction in response to internal and external signals. 

Metabolism, put simply, is the whole sum of cellular reactions for supplying the body with energy for survival. Loss of structure and function of these endocrine glands lead to multisystem diseases with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, thyroid dysfunction and osteoporosis as the most common endocrine and metabolic conditions. 

Due to the pluripotent effects of the endocrine system, patients with endocrine disorders are encountered by many healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and nutritionists in their daily practice. Due to their silent nature, diagnosis and treatment of these common conditions may be delayed leading to comorbidities and poor quality of life. Besides, rare presentations of common conditions (e.g. thyrotoxic heart disease) and common presentations of rare conditions (e.g. Cushing’s syndrome presenting with diabetes) continue to pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. 

With leaps and bounces in the field of genomic and multiomic research, a key albeit not the only component of precision medicine, many advances have been made in the field of rare and hereditary endocrine diseases, e.g. familial hypercholesterolaemia and monogenic diabetes. The rising healthcare burden of obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis continue to drive innovation in technologies and therapeutics. The use of big data to generate algorithms and models are now used to help patients, providers and payors make informed decisions.  

The MEDM Programme consists of lectures, workshops, case studies, clinical attachments, research projects and presentations with commendations from students and teachers. Since 2001, the MEDM consisting of modules with award of diploma and professional credit points have benefited many doctors, allied healthcare professionals and scientists who have use these knowledge to benefit people with or at risk of these conditions or put their scientific knowledge within clinical contexts, whilst advance their professional pursuit.  

At the end of the 2-year programme, graduates will have an in-depth understanding of the followings:

- Scientific principles underlying regulation of the endocrine system and maintenance of homeostasis (internal environment) including energy metabolism 
- Effective use of currently available diagnostic and assessment tools as well as therapeutic options in the management of diabetes, obesity, metabolic and endocrine diseases 
- Latest development in precision medicine, big data analytics and artificial intelligence in the prediction, prevention, classification and personalized treatment of common and rare endocrine conditions 
- Latest development in therapeutics and technologies including devices, wearables, diagnostics, digital platforms and drugs  as well as their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness 
- Principles and practice of cognitive-psychological-behavioral management of people with or at risk of these chronic diseases     
- Importance of care organization to implement evidence-guided, value-based and person-centred interdisciplinary care with ongoing evaluation  
- Critical appraisal of published data and design of research and quality improvement programmes through cooperative learning and effective communication