Apply to work in Singapore as a doctor

[elephantrosie]

Hi there,

I am currently a Medical Officer based in the UK and am interested to pursue my career further in Singapore. I have heard of the long working hours, etc etc

So my question is how do I apply to work in Singapore? Do I do it through MOHH? I would be very grateful if someone could guide me on this.

thanks.

Start here:

Physicians | Career With MOHH | Medical Service Scheme

[elephantrosie]

thanks. that was informative.

My degree is recognised by SMC and I have completed a year of housemanship.

Now comes step 2,
Question: Do I have to apply straight to the hospital that I want to work at? If yes, am I only allowed to apply to one hospital at a time?

You sound like you're a Singaporean! I think you can apply to all you can. What's wrong with that?

[elephantrosie]

no, i am not.

i would appreciate definite answers rather than guesses. thanks.

Originally Posted by elephantrosie

no, i am not.

i would appreciate definite answers rather than guesses. thanks.

apply only one at a time. expect low pay and long hours. be humble at all times else be prepare to be replaced.

It really depends what you want to do in your career.

You would likely have to work a year as a ward resident before you can apply for specialist training (now called residency). Extremely competitive training in UK such as radiology is easily obtainable in singapore. In fact quite a number of british UK grads are in the rad training in addition to the local UK grad. Competition for specialty training isnt as bad as in UK.

If you are interested in research, there are plenty of opportunity and money around. In fact, it is a requirement to have a first author paper to finish training. But if you hate research, not doing any might hinder your career progression. (unless you offer to teach or do admin duties)

As foreigner, you will not have full registration for 4 years, meaning you can only work in public hospitals and you cannot moonlight in private. Pay for PGY4 is around 6k to 7k.

Singapore is good for CV padding but if you wanna relax and have good work-life balance, its probably not for you. For that, you might wanna come after you finish specialty training.

[elephantrosie]

Hi, thanks for the last reply.

Are you a doctor too?

I am looking to pursue ophthalmology. i intend to apply this august. do i have to work there in order to secure a post? i am aware that that is certainly the best case scenario, but has any foreign doctors done that before? (ie. securing a residency post without any prior work experience in singapore).

I have an extremely good CV that stinks of ophthalmology (you can look at it from a good or bad perspective).

I would appreciate an insider to shine some light on this.

thanks

Yes. trained in aust, came after working few years.

You can check with JCST (joint council for specialist training), but singapore training has recently switched to the american system whereby final medical year students apply for specialty training, not residents. The old rule is that you will have to work in singapore for at least one year as a resident before applying. This is mainly to assess your work performance.

So far, the only specialty i heard that accepts foreigners straight from overseas is radiology at NUHS. This is only to the highly competitive program by the australian college. The NUHS residency program may still require one year of local work experience. This one year of experience is very easily gotten but you will have to take the risk.

Ophthalmology is highly competitive and there are few positions. If your CV is strong enough with medals and prizes and papers then you still stand a good chance. Unfortunately, i dont think anyone will offer you a job based on just paper qualifications, they will have to assess your work performance and communication skills. There have been stellar CVs who stink in personality. These people are normally weeded out. Unfortunately, in singapore, communication and interpersonal skills takes up a big part of your performance assessment and it is multidisciplinary. ie nurses and allied health workers take part in your assessment.

If you are willing to go for less competitive specialty like internal medicine or family medicine then there might be a chance you will get in without having worked here. Either that or you apply for transitional year, which basically means you do resident rotations.

You will have to seriously consider why you would want to come here. Most foreign doctors here are from india, and most with intention of using singapore as a stepping stone to Aust/US.

As a foreigner, you will only be granted 4 years of conditional registration after which you can apply for full registration. The difference is, conditional registration bars you from practicing in private or moonlighting as locum GP.

[elephantrosie]

Hi,

thanks for the information.

Do you mind if I asked why you decide to work in Singapore in view that you are an Australian graduate?

Also, I dont quite understand this: "This is only to the highly competitive program by the australian college"
- by the AUSTRALIAN college? do you mean singapore?

I have done a week of observership at SNEC and I don't think Singaporeans have very good communication skills. Saying that, I am not sure how they perform at the interview (obviously)

I also spoke to someone from MOHH in-charge of recruiting doctors from abroad. He did say the same thing like you did ie. would have to work for a year before application. He said I could still try but highly unlikely I would get into residency.

Could I apply for two residency programmes at the same time?


p/s: Is there a forum specifically dedicated for discussion by singapore doctors? I tried searching online but couldnt find any.