Can a foreigner work as a doctor in Singapore? The answer is absolutely yes! As long as you can fulfil the requirements and criteria to obtain the medical license and working visa, you can work as a doctor in Singapore. It might not be as complicated as what most people think. Therefore, to understand How foreigners can find doctors jobs in Singapore, let’s dive in!

Pursuing medical training in Singapore’s medical institutions

The most straightforward way of getting doctor jobs in Singapore is to study in the local medical institutions. There are currently 3 (three) world class medical schools in Singapore, namely National University Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin Medical School, Duke-NUS Medical School (for postgraduate entry only) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU)-Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.

MBBS (basic medical degree) generally takes 5 years of studies excluding housemanship / first year of residency. On the other hand, MMed (post graduate degree) will take 5 – 6 years. There is almost guarantee that upon completion of MBBS and/or Mmed, you would get a medical jobs or doctor jobs in Singapore, but mostly at the public hospital at the start.

Apply for doctor job with foreign medical qualifications

In order to get the answer of How foreigners can find doctors jobs in Singapore, first of all you need to apply and secure employment with the healthcare institutions that are approved by Singapore Medical Council (SMC). But before you apply with those healthcare institutions, you need to make sure that your medical qualification, either basic medical degree or postgraduate degree, is recognised by SMC. Otherwise, your application will not be considered at all since you are not eligible for medical registration in any way.

You need to note that there is no examinations required for medical registration with the SMC. The medical registration process is strightly based on the qualification that you had.

Before we proceed further, you might want to know that there are 4 (four) types of medical registration in Singapore that are issued by the Singapore Medical Council:

• Provisional Registration – This is only for MBBS doctors graduated from the Singapore medical schools listed above who wanted to be employed as Postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1) trainee / House Officer in approved hospitals in Singapore for a period of 12 months. This is the process prior to getting the Full Registration.
• Temporary Registration – This is granted to the overseas trained / foreign doctors who come to Singapore for the purpose of teaching, conducting lectures, research, postgraduate studies under SMC-approved programme. This registration is required only if the trained doctors or visiting experts are performing procedures and consultations to patients.
• Conditional Registration – This is the point of entry for most of the foreign doctors who wanted to work in Singapore. Foreign doctors, upon obtaining employment by SMC-approved medical institutions, can apply for Conditional Registration as the medical license to practice in Singapore. As the name shows, there are conditions attached to this type of registration. You can work only in a specific SMC-approved healthcare institution and under the supervision of a fully registered medical practitioner. This process usually takes 4 – 8 week.
• Full Registration –The holder of Provisional Registration and Conditional Registration can apply for Full Registration after fulfilling a set of stringent criteria. Having a Full Registration allow any doctors, both local of overseas trained doctors, to practice independently in Singapore.

Foreign Doctors who want to practice as a Specialist in Singapore

So far, what we have discussed is for non-specialist foreign doctor to find doctor’s job in Singapore. Let us explore more for the case of specialist foreign doctor who want to explore medical career and want to have a doctor’s job in Singapore.

The first step is to get job employment from SMC-approved healthcare institution and to apply for accreditation with the Specialists Accreditation Board (SAB) of Singapore. Your specialty must be listed in the Specialties Recognised in Singapore list. Your training and / or postgraduate qualifications must also be recognised by the SAB. Besides that, you need be a registered medical specialist in your country of origin.

The next step is to apply for Specialist Registration with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC). The documentations required for this step will be similar to that of Conditional Registration. You are expected to include at least 1 (one) registrable postgraduate qualification.

Both application are to be submitted concurrently upon receiving employment offer from SMC-approved medical institutions. The processing time for the application might take 3 – 4 months.

How to apply for Work Visa / Pass

Once you have accepted the job offer from a medical institution in Singapore and issued the Conditional Registration by the Singapore Medical Council, the next phase is for you to apply for a work visa or pass.

There are several types of work pass issued by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower, such as Employment Pass, Entre Pass, S Pass, Work Permit, Work Holiday Pass and many others. But the one that concern you for working as a doctor in Singapore is the Employment Pass. In order to obtain this pass, you are required to have a job offer, supported by the Singapore Medical Council and to earn at least SGD 4,500 per month. This is not an issue especially if you have received a job offer from any SMC-approved medical institutions in the first place.

A Final Thought

If you manage to follow us up to this stage, you might have realised foreigners can find doctors jobs in Singapore. The application process is clear and the details are all listed in the websites of the Singapore Medical Council, Singapore Accreditation Board and Singapore Ministry of Manpower.

However you might also realised the documentation and time required to comply with all of the requirement is quite significant. You might still be working long hours as a doctor in your home country besides your other commitments. This is where we can help you.

Nucleus Health Singapore is a registered and reputable healthcare recruitment agency in Singapore specialised in the doctor jobs. We work with various SMC-approved medical institutions to meet their hiring needs. Likewise, if your concern is How foreigners can find doctors jobs in Singapore then,We are always ready to help you to secure medical job in Singapore and assist you with the paperworks. We do not charge candidate any fees. Feel free to contact our consultants anytime to schedule a consultation session.