How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The government/moh has been saying that they want/need more family physicians, but yet many people on this forum have been saying that the gp market is very saturated. So just wondering what is the true situation?

I think they want well trained family physicians that can handle complex cases and reduce referrals to acute Hosps. They want well trained family physicians that can handle chronics well, that can reduce complications rate. They want family physicians to do more.

Hence Chas has been expanded to cover all Singaporeans. Although the chas amount may not be a lot. But there is rental pressure, there is cost of EMR, cost of drugs, cost of consumables, cost of compliance and records keeping to prepare for MOH audit, cost of accounting, cost of continuing medical education. In this day and age, you have to be very altruistic to provide good care. Need to work really long hours, to keep consult sufficiently long for each patient, and price reasonably.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think they want well trained family physicians that can handle complex cases and reduce referrals to acute Hosps. They want well trained family physicians that can handle chronics well, that can reduce complications rate. They want family physicians to do more.

Hence Chas has been expanded to cover all Singaporeans. Although the chas amount may not be a lot. But there is rental pressure, there is cost of EMR, cost of drugs, cost of consumables, cost of compliance and records keeping to prepare for MOH audit, cost of accounting, cost of continuing medical education. In this day and age, you have to be very altruistic to provide good care. Need to work really long hours, to keep consult sufficiently long for each patient, and price reasonably.

Does that mean that most family physicians out in the private/polyclinic setting are not well trained And can't handle chronic condition? (I.e they refer at the earliest possible opportunity?)

Hi, I am a UK grad, pgy 3 interested in internal medicine. I have completed my mrcp part 1/2 and in the process of doing paces.
Just wondering given the job situation/prospect in Singapore (with emphasis on family medicine and step down care) should I still pursue IM residency?
And just wondering if I pursue a specialist in gm, how easy is it for me to convert to a gp if I am unable to get a AC job in 5-6 years time?

Hi, I have a question for all current residents/trainees. When we prepare for postgraduate examinations (eg MRCP paces/MRCS part B- i.e the osce exam), are there trainees who take their examination outside Singapore/UK?
I just wonder if for eg we take our paces in like India/KL, and pass, will our qualification be deemed of a lower value as compared to those who passed the same exam in UK/singapore?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi, I have a question for all current residents/trainees. When we prepare for postgraduate examinations (eg MRCP paces/MRCS part B- i.e the osce exam), are there trainees who take their examination outside Singapore/UK?
I just wonder if for eg we take our paces in like India/KL, and pass, will our qualification be deemed of a lower value as compared to those who passed the same exam in UK/singapore?

No diff. Mrcp is mrcp. Singapore or India or UK , paces standards are deemed to be equivalent

s://.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/moh-cuts-overseas-medical-schools-approved-for-practise-in-11459004

"That is because you have fallen prey to the story sold by MOHH and MOH. The story is that there has been (and continues to be) a shortage of doctors relative to the absolute population and specific sub-population (in our case, the ageing population). In other words, when the other 2 (LKC and Duke NUS) medical schools were opened, the narrative was that more doctors needed to be churned out to meet this need.

That story is not untrue. However, the bigger and more unsettling problem is that of structural unemployment. During the time when the 2 new medical schools were training their student-doctors, MOH and MOHH brought in a bevy of foreign trained consultant doctors (UK, India, Philippines etc). Unfortunately, this move coincided with the implementation of the Residency System which has been widely recognized locally as a monumental failure.

The situation today is as such: We have too few vacant Consultancy positions and way too many junior Residents. Doctors who are in their 4th or 5th year of Residency who should be looking forward to a Consultancy when they "exit" their training programmes are instead offered peace-keeping titles such as "Senior Service Registrar" or "Resident Physician". These are dead-end positions. Most, if not all will never make it to Consultancy, until the position is vacant, and no other junior Residents (R4/R5) are groomed for it.

So, what do Junior Doctors do in this messy situation? They leave to the Private Sector. Most will locum or be GPs. Some will do diplomas in aesthetic medicine and become aesthetic physicians. Some will become medical officers in the private hospitals. Some will train overseas (yes, train. Because the local Residency is not recognised anywhere else, not even in the United States which inspired it's development). Some will do something else (e.g. Public Health, Medical Ethics, Medical Law).

All of this exacerbates the "shortage" perceived by Singaporeans in the A&Es (long waiting times), Specialist Outpatient Clinics (long waiting times...), and woefully misleading or incomplete articles such as the ones you linked above."

Originally Posted by Unregistered

s://.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/moh-cuts-overseas-medical-schools-approved-for-practise-in-11459004

"That is because you have fallen prey to the story sold by MOHH and MOH. The story is that there has been (and continues to be) a shortage of doctors relative to the absolute population and specific sub-population (in our case, the ageing population). In other words, when the other 2 (LKC and Duke NUS) medical schools were opened, the narrative was that more doctors needed to be churned out to meet this need.

That story is not untrue. However, the bigger and more unsettling problem is that of structural unemployment. During the time when the 2 new medical schools were training their student-doctors, MOH and MOHH brought in a bevy of foreign trained consultant doctors (UK, India, Philippines etc). Unfortunately, this move coincided with the implementation of the Residency System which has been widely recognized locally as a monumental failure.

The situation today is as such: We have too few vacant Consultancy positions and way too many junior Residents. Doctors who are in their 4th or 5th year of Residency who should be looking forward to a Consultancy when they "exit" their training programmes are instead offered peace-keeping titles such as "Senior Service Registrar" or "Resident Physician". These are dead-end positions. Most, if not all will never make it to Consultancy, until the position is vacant, and no other junior Residents (R4/R5) are groomed for it.

So, what do Junior Doctors do in this messy situation? They leave to the Private Sector. Most will locum or be GPs. Some will do diplomas in aesthetic medicine and become aesthetic physicians. Some will become medical officers in the private hospitals. Some will train overseas (yes, train. Because the local Residency is not recognised anywhere else, not even in the United States which inspired it's development). Some will do something else (e.g. Public Health, Medical Ethics, Medical Law).

All of this exacerbates the "shortage" perceived by Singaporeans in the A&Es (long waiting times), Specialist Outpatient Clinics (long waiting times...), and woefully misleading or incomplete articles such as the ones you linked above."

You said that the residency is widely regarded as a monumental failure. Can elaborate further on that? Is it just because there are insufficient AC jobs?

Don't we need more consultants to aid our aging population? And shouldn't they look to increase the number of consultant positions? Is it purely for financial reason MOH and mohh are not willing to increase the number of consultant job vacancy? Economy is bad now. This doesn't seem to be the issue in the UK.

s://medicfootprints.org/singapore/medical-salaries-employment-singapore/

Is this article bs ? Geriatricians earning upwards of 25000 and the working hours directive in sg. Can't work more than 44 hours a week and overtime can be more than 14 hours.

Sorry to be really off topic but just out of curiosity how does one become a professor in singapore after attaining a medical degree?