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26 Apr 2010
Question No: 72
Question
Name of the Person: Dr Fatimah Lateef
To ask the Minister for Health (a) how many foreign doctors were recruited in the last 3 years compared to the numbers who graduated locally; (b) how many Singapore doctors who were trained or working overseas have returned to work in Singapore in the last 3 years; and (c) what is our current patient to doctor ratio and what is the projection of this ratio for the next 5-8 years.
Reply
Reply From MOH
In the past 3 years, 1,246 foreign-trained doctors were recruited, while 685 graduated locally. Of the foreign-trained doctors, 176 are Singaporeans.
The doctor to patient ratio will depend on the clinical setting. However, the most commonly cited statistic is the doctor to population ratio. We are currently at 1:600. We expect to improve it further to at least 1:550 within the next 8 years.