Press Releases
EIGHT MORE OVERSEAS MEDICAL SCHOOLS RECOGNISED
27 January 2026
With effect from 1 February 2026, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Singapore Medical Council (SMC) will recognise eight more overseas medical schools.
2. SMC regularly reviews the list of registrable medical qualifications to ensure that foreign-trained medical doctors who apply to practise in Singapore have received training that is comparable with schools in Singapore. SMC considers various factors, such as the international rankings of schools, whether the language of instruction of the schools is compatible with local practice (i.e. in English), as well as the performance of doctors from these universities.
3. MOH has accepted SMC’s recommendation to add eight medical schools (please refer to Table A) to the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act 1997, bringing the total number of recognised overseas medical schools from 112 to 120. The additions will allow Singapore to better meet the growing demand for doctors as our population ages, even as we have increased the annual local medical school intake from around 440 students in 2014, to 555 in 2025.
Table A: List of eight medical schools added
Country | Body Granting Qualifications | Primary Qualifications |
Australia | Adelaide University, College of Health | MB BS, BMedSt/MD |
India | Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal | MB BS |
Ireland | University of Galway, School of Medicine | MB BCh BAO |
Malaysia | Universiti Sains Malaysia, School of Medical Sciences | MD |
Pakistan | The Aga Khan University Medical College | MB BS |
People’s Republic of China | Tsinghua University, School of Medicine | MD (Eight-Year Medical Experimental Class) MD (Outstanding Physician-Scientist Program) |
United Kingdom | City St George’s, University of London, School of Health & Medical Sciences | MB BS |
University of Exeter, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences | BMBS |
4. From 2026, aspiring medical students can apply to these medical schools for their overseas studies. All graduates from these medical schools, regardless of nationality, and whether they graduate before or after 2026, can apply for registration with SMC to practise medicine in Singapore, subject to the fulfilment of SMC’s prevailing requirements.
5. SMC will continue to assess foreign-trained medical doctors in their initial years through a supervisory framework to ensure high standards of medical practice. The updated and complete list of overseas medical schools can be found in the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act 1997 from 1 February 2026.