Debated in Parliament on 8 Nov 2016.
Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Health (a) whether there is a defined route for Singaporeans who are foreign medical graduates to do the Qualifying Examinations held by the Singapore Medical Council; (b) whether there is a preparatory programme offered by NUS for such graduates; and (c) whether there is any internship/attachment offered by hospitals for such graduates to familiarise themselves with our healthcare system in preparation for the Qualifying Examinations.
Mdm Speaker, it is important to ensure that graduates from both local and overseas medical schools are competent before they can practise medicine in Singapore. Graduates, including Singaporeans, from overseas medical schools that are listed under the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act can apply to the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) to practise in Singapore. These medical schools have been assessed by SMC to have the standing and capability of producing doctors suitable for practice locally.
Singaporeans from overseas medical schools that are not listed in the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act (MRA) can still apply to SMC to sit for the Qualifying Examination (QE). If they pass the QE, they can then practise in Singapore under provisional qualification, similar to a new graduate from recognised medical schools.
The QE is similar to the final examination for the MBBS Degree conducted by the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS), for their final year medical students. To help candidates prepare for the QE, NUS sends them an information package which outlines the examination rules, curriculum extracts for the various disciplines, and past examination papers. There are, however, no preparatory programmes offered by NUS or our hospitals for the purpose of preparing candidates for the QE.
Ms Thanaletchimi.
Madam, I have two questions. Will the Ministry consider having a preparatory programme for this group of overseas graduates to be well in sync with the system of healthcare and also the demands of the curriculum? The second question is: even if there is no preparatory programme offered by any university, could the Ministry consider giving these people an opportunity to be attached to the hospitals to be observers?
I would like to thank Ms Thanaletchimi for the supplementary questions. Mdm Speaker, there are currently no preparatory programmes offered for QE candidates, as the preparatory requirements of each candidate may vary depending on individual needs. NUS, however, does send all QE candidates an examination package, which I have already alluded to during my answer and that includes the rules and regulations of the examinations, the curriculum, extracts for the various key disciplines that these students need to undertake as well as the examination papers for the past three years. For candidates who wish to familiarise themselves with our healthcare system, they are also encouraged to apply directly to the respective regional healthcare clusters for clinical attachment.
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