SINGAPORE, Oct 3 — Singapore has been recruiting doctors from overseas to ease the “heavy workload” of the ones here, and supplement the Republic’s healthcare capacity needs, said the holding company of Singapore’s public healthcare clusters.
In response to TODAY’s queries, MOH Holdings (MOHH) said it is seeking to hire 180 junior doctors from India over the next three years, after an image of a Sept 6 tender to appoint a recruitment agency in Singapore to handle the project made its rounds online last month.
Confirming that the tender is authentic, MOHH said it was “recruiting from countries with qualified doctors” such as Britain and Australia as well, and not just India, adding that it was looking for candidates who graduated from medical schools listed in the Medical Registration Act.
“These doctors would only be granted conditional registration for clinical practice under strict supervision,” said MOHH.
“Priority is given to locals who graduate from medical schools recognised by the Singapore Medical Council,” it added.
Several netizens had earlier questioned MOHH’s decision to “import” Indian doctors, with some expressing their worries about fake certification.
Others asked why Singapore could not simply increase the intake of students in local medical schools instead.
The tender also drew concern within the medical fraternity here.
In a post on social media late last month, Associate Professor Jeremy Lim from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health said that developed countries like Singapore recruiting health professionals from overseas creates a concern that “the rich world hires away scarce resources from less well-staffed countries”.
The tender is set to close on Oct 10 and states a target to recruit 60 medical officers from India annually from 2022 to 2024, with the possibility of extending the project an additional year to 2025.
MOHH also put up a separate tender on its website, this time dated Sept 16, for recruitment agencies in overseas countries, without mentioning India.
MOHH added that it recruits about 700 junior doctors each year, 90 per cent of whom are locals that were either trained in Singapore’s medical schools or returning Singaporeans who graduated from recognised overseas medical schools.
Singapore has increased the local pipeline of doctors over the years, with medical schools increasing their combined intake by 45 per cent from 2012 to 2019, said MOHH.
In addition, 40 more students were admitted in 2020 and 2021 to cater to those whose overseas studies were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. — TODAY
