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Family Physician

In order to practise as a Family Physician (FP) in Singapore, the doctor must at least be on full or conditional medical registration with SMC and has a valid practising certificate. There are 2 routes of entry into the Register of Family Physicians.

1. Degree or Diploma Route

This is for doctors with relevant postgraduate academic qualifications and experience that are specific to Family Medicine (FM).

2. Practice Route

This is for experienced GPs with 5 or more years of relevant FM practice experience but without the relevant postgraduate academic qualifications. Depending on their years of experience, GPs need to complete between 2 and 4 Accredited Modular Courses (AMCs) conducted by the College of Family Physicians (CFPS). Details on AMCs are available on CFPS' website http://www.cfps.org.sg/. However, entry by the 'Practice Route' will end by 31 Dec 2013, after which only entry via the degree or diploma route will be accepted.

Application procedure is as follows:
 

(i) First obtain accreditation by the Family Physicians Accreditation Board (FPAB). Information on the accreditation application procedure is available on FPAB's website at http://www.healthprofessionals.gov.sg/content/hprof/fpab/en.html and

(ii) At the same time, apply to add his name to the Register of Family Physicians by completing the prescribed form or logging on to http://160.96.5.199/html/SMC_Login.html. The doctor is not allowed to use the title “Family Physician” until SMC admits his name into the Register of Family Physicians.

(iii) Submit the completed form to SMC together with the stipulated fee (see table)
 
By Country of Postgraduate Qualification (as Family Physician) Fee Payable (one-time only)
Local-trained SGD$200
Foreign-trained SGD$500
  (iv) Doctors going via the Degree or Diploma route are encouraged to apply to include at least 1 registrable postgraduate qualification that is specific to Family Medicine into the Register for Medical Practitioners. Please refer to link for more information on application and fee for inclusion of a postgraduate qualification.

To ensure that the family physician registration is completed in a timely manner, the applicant is advised to apply for both family physician accreditation with the FPAB and family physician registration with the SMC concurrently. The doctor's name will be entered into the Register of Family Physicians only after he / she has been accredited by FPAB.

In accordance with Section 22A of the Medical Registration Act, the date of entry of the doctor's name into the Register of Family Physicians shall be the approval date of his application for family physician registration by SMC. Back-dating of registration date for family physician registration is not legal and therefore will not be allowed.

Timeframe for processing

Provided all documentation required by SMC is submitted, the turnaround time for an application for FP registration is about 3 weeks. Processing time may be longer for complex cases and during peak periods. The doctor will be allowed to use the 'Family Physician' title upon successful registration, subject to such conditions that maybe imposed by the SMC.

 
Last Updated :  27 Jan 2012 17:18