New healthcare graduate award to be introduced
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY | Posted: 21 May 2009 0752 hrs

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SINGAPORE: There are the long-term manpower needs, which a third medical school would meet, and then there are the more pressing requirements — for which the Ministry of Health has devised more ways to boost hiring and skills.

The latest carrot is a new scholarship, the Healthcare Graduate Studies Award, which will be introduced this month for fresh graduates to further their studies in areas with “scarce skillsets”, such as clinical psychology, biostatistics and medical social work.

This will be rolled out in tandem with foreign recruitment “to augment the local manpower pool”, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Wednesday in his ministry’s addendum to the President’s Address to Parliament on Monday.

“Manpower expansion must precede infrastructure expansion,” said Mr Khaw.

MOH has already ramped up recently the funding and training of mid-career entrants into healthcare, such as in nursing, physiotherapy and radiography, filling 92 of the 250 available places so far.

But the ministry is identifying more fields that need beefing up to cope with an ageing population.

One of these, dentistry, will be expanded at the undergraduate level, from a maximum intake currently of 48 dental students per year to 60 by 2012 — which would give Singapore a dentist to population ratio similar to those of developed countries, according to MOH. Subsidised specialist dental services will be expanded accordingly.

But one of the biggest number of job openings currently are for medical and allied health positions, which comprise 40 per cent of the 2,000 job vacancies available as of last month.

In an update of its recruitment drive, MOH said more than 2,000 people were recruited between January and March, resulting in a net increase of 1,050 jobs in public healthcare. Six in 10 jobs were filled by Singaporeans, and one-fifth went to those above 40 years of age. MOH considers these figures “favourable”.

And some recruits have found their new vocations meaningful.

“I have gained a life skill by switching to (the) nursing profession,” said staff nurse Siti Zawiyah Mohamad, 29, who used to be a producer in the media industry. “I hope someday I can produce educational videos for patients or create a visual guide that can assist in training healthcare professionals.”

- TODAY/ yt