Janil Puthucheary on supply of doctors
The combined annual intake of Singapore’s medical schools rose by about 60 per cent, from around 320 to 510, from 2010 to 2019. In 2020 and 2021, another 40 medical students were admitted each year. These were students whose overseas medical studies had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 200 locals who study or practise medicine abroad also return to Singapore every year. Most of them study or work in Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) or Ireland. Singapore also takes in qualified doctors from recognised universities from other countries to ease the workload in specific departments and hospitals. Currently, the top five countries foreign doctors are recruited from are India, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and the UK. Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary gave these details in Parliament on Monday (Nov 7) in response to an MP’s questions. He also said the attrition rate of doctors from the public sector into private practice ranged from three to five per cent over 2019 to 2021 - a figure he described as “acceptable”.
The combined annual intake of Singapore’s medical schools rose by about 60 per cent, from around 320 to 510, from 2010 to 2019. In 2020 and 2021, another 40 medical students were admitted each year. These were students whose overseas medical studies had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 200 locals who study or practise medicine abroad also return to Singapore every year. Most of them study or work in Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) or Ireland. Singapore also takes in qualified doctors from recognised universities from other countries to ease the workload in specific departments and hospitals. Currently, the top five countries foreign doctors are recruited from are India, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and the UK. Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary gave these details in Parliament on Monday (Nov 7) in response to an MP’s questions. He also said the attrition rate of doctors from the public sector into private practice ranged from three to five per cent over 2019 to 2021 - a figure he described as “acceptable”.
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