Singapore Medical Council Qualifying Examination

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms K Thanaletchimi

Nominated MP

Question No. 722

To ask 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.

Oral Answer

1. It is important to ensure that graduates from both local and overseas medical schools are competent before they can practice 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 practice in Singapore. These medical schools have been assessed by the SMC to have the standing and capability of producing doctors suitable for practise locally.

2. Singaporeans from overseas medical schools that are not listed in the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act can still apply to the 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. 

3. The QE is similar to the final examination of the MBBS Degree conducted by the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore 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.