Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board

Please refer to Registration Requirements.

Apart from locally registered doctors and dentists, those who wish to practise acupuncture must be registered as TCM physicians in order to practise acupuncture.

Locally registered doctors and dentists must complete acupuncture training courses recognized by the TCM Practitioners Board and pass the Singapore Acupuncturist Registration Examination (SARE) before they can be registered as acupuncturists.

You can check the status of registered TCM practitioners at List of Registered TCM Practitioners.

As the Board only registers TCM general practitioners and not TCM specialists, there is no listing of TCM specialists at the Board or at this website.

An application that meets all registration requirements fully and submitted with all required support documents may be processed in 4 weeks.

You have to meet the registration requirements before you are allowed to take the STRE.

STRE is conducted once a year. Candidates will be informed on the dates in advance.

The following local institutions offer TCM courses accredited by the TCM Practitioners Board:

Under the provisions of Subsections 12(3), 12(4) & 12(5) of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Act (Cap 333A):

All registered TCM practitioners are required to inform the Registrar in writing of any change in your name, your residential status, your place of practice (such as change of clinic/place of practice, change of the name of the clinic/place of practice, or change of address of place of practice), your residential address, or your contact numbers (telephone, handphone and fax numbers whichever applicable), within 28 days from any such change.

Any person who fails to comply with the above shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

If you have made a report of a change in your residential address under Section 8 of the National Registration Act (Cap 201), you shall be deemed to have complied with the above in relation to the requirement to inform the Registrar of a change of your residential address on the date on which you make the report.

You may download Report on Changes Form for updating your personal particulars. You may post or fax the completed Update Form to the following address:

TCM Practitioners Board
81 Kim Keat Road
#09-00
Singapore 328836
Tel:6355 2488 Fax:6355 2489

Those who have newly acquired recognized basic TCM qualifications (eg Bachelor of Medicine in TCM from recognized TCM universities) can apply to have their new qualifications entered into the Register with the following support documents:

You can download Application for Registration of Additional Qualifications Form to apply for the registration of your additional qualifications.

TCM practitioners on Conditional Registration may apply for full registration if they have satisfied the following criteria:

For Singaporeans:
Completed 1 year of practice under Conditional Registration under the supervision of an approved supervising TCM practitioner at an approved place of practice.

For Non-Singaporeans & Permanent Residents:
Completed 3 years of practice under Conditional Registration under the supervision of an approved supervising TCM practitioner at an approved place of practice.

Application for conversion to Full Registration must be made by filling the Application for Registration Form accompanied by the following:

TCM practitioners on Conditional Registration are allowed to practise only at the approved place of practice. They are not allowed to change the employer or place of practice unless with the approval of the TCM Practitioners Board.

TCM practitioners on Conditional Registration who wish to change employer or place of practice must submit a fresh application for registration before they are allowed to join the new employer or change the place of practice. The fresh application form must be submitted through the potential new employer or the present employer (if the change of place of practice does not involve the change of employer) with the following:

Upon registration, a TCM practitioner is required to apply for a PC before he/she can start practising TCM in Singapore. All newly registered and restored TCM practitioners must apply for a Practising Certificate. You can download the Application for Practising Certificate Form to apply for practising certificates. (applicable to new and restored cases only)

All TCM practitioners in active practice, whether on Full Registration or Conditional Registration, must hold valid PCs.

Notification for the renewal of PCs will be sent to TCM practitioners two months before their PCs expire. Payment for renewal must be made on or before the due date specified in the Notification.

Please ensure that you renew your PC on time.

A late payment fee of $75 will be imposed if payment for the renewal of PC is not made on or before the due date specified in the Notification, or $200 if payment is made after the expiry of the PC.

As terms of employment and medical leave are contractual agreements negotiated between employers and employees, recognition of medical certificates issued by registered TCM practitioners is to be decided between the employers and the employees.

It is up to the insurance companies and employers to decide whether such fees and charges are claimable.

Please refer to Complaints for details on how to lodge a complaint with a sample of the Statutory Declaration Form provided. You can download the Statutory Declaration Form and Instructions if you want to lodge a complaint against a certain TCM practitioner.

Under Ethical Guideline 4.4.8 (e), the names of TCM clinics (in English and Chinese), operated by registered TCM practitioners, are to be submitted to the TCM Practitioners Board for clearance and approval.

TCM Practitioners are advised to submit the proposed names for their clinics (in both English and Chinese) to the Board for approval before proceeding to register with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), including the change of names of existing clinics.