Singapore adds 8 foreign medical schools to battle doctor shortage

Local intake rose to 555 in 2025 from about 440 in 2014, MOH said, as new grads still start under supervision.

Singapore will recognise eight additional overseas medical schools from 1 Feb, increasing the total number of recognised foreign medical schools to 120, the Ministry of Health and the Singapore Medical Council said.

MOH said it accepted SMC’s recommendation to add the eight institutions to the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act 1997, up from 112 previously.

SMC reviews recognised medical qualifications regularly to ensure that training standards are comparable to those of Singapore’s medical schools, taking into account factors such as international rankings, compatibility with English-language instruction, and the performance of doctors from those universities practising in Singapore.

The newly recognised schools are Adelaide University; Manipal Academy of Higher Education’s Kasturba Medical College in Manipal; the University of Galway; Universiti Sains Malaysia; the Aga Khan University; Tsinghua University; City St George’s, University of London; and the University of Exeter.

MOH linked the move to rising demand for doctors as Singapore’s population ages, noting that local medical school intake has also been expanded, from about 440 students a year in 2014 to 555 in 2025.

Graduates from the eight schools will be eligible to apply for registration with SMC regardless of nationality and regardless of whether they graduate before or after 2026, subject to prevailing requirements.

SMC said doctors trained at these institutions will continue to be placed under supervision in their initial years of practice in Singapore under its existing framework.