These allied health workers help rehabilitate patients who were seriously ill and need help to get back on their feet, or adjust to life changes brought about by illness like stroke.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), there were 3,500 allied health professionals in the public health-care institutions as of December last year.

Professor Tan Ser Kiat, the chief executive of SGH, said the SGH-Postgraduate Allied Health Institute will help them upgrade their skills.

Headed by Ms Ang Hui Gek, the chief pharmacist of the Ministry of Health, the school is being officially launched today by Ms Yong Ying-I, Permanent Secretary for Health.

The school will be collaborating with renowned universities, such as Curtin University of Technology and Flinders University, both in Australia, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, to provide further courses in research and clinical training.

Since 2003, SGH has provided more than 600 training places for local and foreign allied health workers.

Prof Tan said it is 'part of the new Graduate Medical School. Together with the Postgraduate Medical Institute and the Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing, it completes the final educational thrust for the hospital'.

The Postgraduate Medical Institute was established in 1994 and the Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing in 1997.

Podiatrist Jasper Tong, 30, and dietitian Kala Adaikan, 34, welcomed the new post-graduate school.

Mr Tong, who has spent the last seven years caring for people's feet, said: 'It is imperative that my knowledge and skills of foot health care are not out-dated.

'Perhaps with this school, more people will take up podiatry as a profession.'

Ms Kala, who received her degree in food science in the United Kingdom, said: 'We are responsible for assessing the nutritional needs of individual patients and planning appropriate diets.

'We have to keep ourselves updated with the latest in food science. The institute can provide us that learning opportunity in honing our skills.'