Page 19 - Manpower_Report2021_200524_eng
P. 19

Singapore takes a multipronged approach to workforce planning


                  Figure III.

                                 The "Second Schedule"   The Second Schedule  •  The Second Schedule  MoH launches  •  Demand for
                                 is amended for the   expanded to        expanded to 160   the Healthcare       doctors is met
                                 first time in response   include 71 schools   schools     2020 Masterplan      by local capacity
                                 to concerns over   across 7 jurisdictions  •  From 2003, a series  to set goals for  •  SMC reduces
                                 doctor over-supply                      of six Amendments  healthcare access    entries in the
                                                                         to increase the                        Second Schedule
                                                                         number of schools
                                 2001               2003               2009                2012               2019



                       1997                2002               2005                2010               2013
                       •  Medical Registration  Insufficient doctor  Creation and  Launch of the Pre-  Opening of Singapore’s
                         Act created       supply with only   accreditation of    Employment Grant to  third local medical school
                       •  The Second Schedule  24 recognised schools  Singapore’s second  incentivise students
                         for non-locally trained  in the Second Schedule  local medical school  to return to Singapore
                         doctors introduced
                         with 29 schools
                  Sources: Legislative Council, 2019; SMC, 2003, 2021b; Singapore Parliament, 2018; Ministry of Health 2012, 2019

                  Singapore strategically adopted a multipronged approach and implemented a suite of measures to tackle its shortage of doctors.
                  Among the various levers, the Second Schedule was introduced under the Medical Registration Act in 1997 to safeguard the
                  quality and quantity of non-locally trained doctors practising in Singapore (SMC, 2021b). The Second Schedule lists non-
                  local medical schools with registrable medical qualifications and is periodically reviewed with consideration to the changing
                  healthcare needs of Singapore’s population. The Second Schedule has undergone various shifts in the listed schools, with
                  the latest reduction from 160 schools to 103 schools in 2019 (Ministry of Health, 2019). Meanwhile, Singapore has also been
                  boosting its supply of locally trained doctors by opening its second and third medical schools in 2005 and 2013, respectively,
                  and increasing annual medical school intakes. The impact of the latter is set to be realised from 2023 when the need for non-
                  locally trained doctors is expected to stabilise (Ministry of Health, 2019). A comprehensive overview of the initiatives towards its
                  doctor manpower planning by Singapore will be further discussed in Challenge 1.







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