Singapore to recognize medical grads from 9 more foreign universities

From 2025, aspiring medical students can set their sights on nine more medical schools globally. The Straits Times/Asia News Network

SINGAPORE – Students keen on pursuing a medical career can enroll in another nine overseas universities, which will bring the number of recognized foreign medical schools in Singapore to 112.

The move will help Singapore be better able to meet the growing demand for doctors as the population ages, said the Health Ministry and Singapore Medical Council (SMC) in a joint statement on Nov 11.

It also complements the decision to take in more students at the Singapore medical schools – from about 400 in 2013 to more than 500 in 2023, it added.

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The additional foreign universities going on the list of recognized schools from 2025 include the University of Newcastle’s School of Medicine and Public Health in Australia – the only one from the country to make the list this time around.

With its inclusion, a total of nine Australian universities will have their medical degrees recognized in Singapore.

Five British universities, including Leeds University’s School of Medicine, will be added to the list of recognized institutions. That means medical degrees from a total of 24 British universities will be recognized in Singapore.

The other three universities to be recognized are from Ireland.

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The inclusion of the nine medical schools will kick in on Jan 1, 2025, and is part of the SMC’s regular review, the statement added.

The SMC review ensures that foreign-trained medical doctors applying to work in Singapore have received comparable training abroad.

The review took into account criteria such as the international ranking of schools, the language of instruction and the performance of doctors from these universities before making a decision on recognition in Singapore.

Medical professionals who graduate from recognized institutions can apply to practice in Singapore after graduation, and may need to also fulfil requirements spelt out by SMC.

SMC said it will continue to assess foreign-trained medical doctors in their initial years to ensure high standards of medical practice.

From Jan 1, 2025, the updated list of approved medical schools can be found in the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act 1997.

The nine universities whose medical degrees will be recognised in Singapore from 2025 are:

Australia

• University of Newcastle, School of Medicine and Public Health

Ireland

• University College Cork – National University of Ireland, School of Medicine
• University College Dublin – National University of Ireland, School of Medicine
• Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – National University of Ireland, School of Medicine

United Kingdom

• The Queen’s University of Belfast, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences
• University of Aberdeen, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
• University of Leeds, School of Medicine
• University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Faculty of Medical Sciences
• University of Warwick, Warwick Medical School