Pre-Employment Grant for Overseas Singaporean Medical Students

29 Jul 2010

The public healthcare clusters are launching a pre-employment grant (PEG) to assist Singaporean medical students studying overseas during their final two years of study. The students will receive financial assistance in their tuition fees, assured employment, and opportunities for post-graduate specialist training under the residency programme, in return for a commitment to serve the clusters for up to 4 years. The PEG will be an additional talent recruitment measure of the clusters to attract more doctors from overseas to supplement the local pipeline of doctors.

2. The pre-employment grant will be offered to students in their final 2 years of medical studies. It will cover up to 60% of the remaining years of tuition fees, subject to a limit of S$40,000 per year. All Singaporean students studying in an overseas medical school recognised by the Singapore Medical Council are eligible to apply. The selection will be based on merit. Students should possess good grades in their medical studies, especially in their clinical training years.

3. Recipients of the grant will be required to serve in the hospital clusters for a minimum period. Students receiving a one-year grant will serve in the hospital clusters for three years, while those receiving a two-year grant will serve for four years. The service period will include the one-year housemanship period if it is served locally. More details on the grant parameters can be found in Annex A.

4. The clusters will pilot the pre-employment grant for three years, and review the cost effectiveness of the scheme at the end of the pilot. Applications for the grant will open from 16th August 2010. Interested applicants may wish to refer to: www.physician.mohh.com.sg/PEG for more information on the grant and application process.

Comments from Clusters

"The Pre-Employment Grant (PEG) is a good effort to attract top Singaporean medical talent to help meet the growing demands that our ageing population and rising patient expectations present. The PEG complements SingHealth’s ongoing efforts to engage Singaporean students abroad. For example, by maintaining active contact with them through visits abroad and when they are home for the holidays, and helping to arrange clinical electives for them at our hospitals during their study programme. Singaporean medical students who qualify for the PEG, also have the new residency programme to look forward to, as it presents an additional opportunity for specialty training. We hope this attractive PEG scheme will encourage more of our young talent to return back to Singapore to further their medical careers.”

- Prof Tan Ser Kiat, Group CEO, SingHealth

"This Pre-Employment Grant (PEG) is an additional -- and very welcome -- opportunity for us to ease the shortage of doctors to care for Singapore's growing and ageing population. PEG is also a positive step forward in positioning Singapore's Public Healthcare sector as an attractive career option. We hope this grant will encourage more Singaporeans to come home and serve in our public healthcare institutions. Being Singaporean, these doctors have a natural language and cultural affinity which would enhance communications, especially in caring for elderly patients."

- National Healthcare Group CEO Dr Lim Suet Wun

"We welcome this initiative as it would ensure that we add to the pool of doctors needed to meet the increasing demands for healthcare."

– A/Prof Benjamin Ong, Chief Executive, National University Health System

SINGAPORE HEALTH SERVICES (SINGHEALTH)

NATIONAL HEALTHCARE GROUP (NHG)

ALEXANDRA HEALTH PRIVATE LIMITED (AHPL)

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM (NUHS)

JURONG HEALTH SERVICES (JHS)

• Annex A (19 KB) 
  Pre-Employment Grant