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Specialist Accreditation

All doctors who wish to practise as a specialist must be accredited by the Specialists Accreditation Board (SAB) and registered under the relevant specialty by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC).

In this Section:

Criteria for Specialist Accreditation


General Criteria for Specialist Accreditation

  1. The specialty must be in the listed Specialties Recognized in Singapore. SAB will only accredit a doctor for specialist practice based on the approved list of specialties and sub-specialties.
  2. The applicant must have training and post-graduate qualifications which are recognised by the Specialists Accreditation Board (SAB), Singapore and must either be registered with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) or have a letter of approval by the SMC to work in an institution or clinic in Singapore. 
  3. In order to process the application, the SAB requires documentary evidence of the applicant's specialist training and specialist registration in the country of origin and from the relevant licensing body/organisation in the country where the specialty training was done.
  4. Please refer to the criteria shown below:

    1. All applicants should have at least 3 years of working experience in the country of origin as an accredited and licensed medical specialist.
    2. All applicants are to ensure that:
      1. Their specialty training completed must be full time with a formal training position.
      2. They must have passed the intermediate examination for the specialty.
      3. They must have successfully completed the specialty training with documentary evidence proffered.
      4. Importantly, the specialty training content should be judged and deemed equivalent to Singapore’s local residency programmes in the areas described as follows:
        1. General specialty clinical exposure under supervision and competencies obtained are similar to Singapore,
        2. Structured assessments have occurred through specialty training including at the conclusion (summative) of the specialty training,
        3. A clinical environment and practise exposure which shaped the specialty training being similar to Singapore, and
        4. Subsequent specialty practice reflects the reasonable range of settings for the specialty as defined locally.
    3. All applicants applying for specialist accreditation must satisfy the specialty practice currency requirement with at least an average of 168 hours of specialty clinical practice per year for the preceding 3 years. Applicants with limited clinical practice or practice in sub-disciplines of the specialty/sub-specialty applied for, should meet the specialty/sub-specialty practice currency requirement for both the base specialty/sub-specialty and the sub-discipline. Otherwise, the SAB might, at its discretion, impose additional requirements such as the need to undergo restricted practice, where applicable.
  5. The application must fulfil the SMC’s registration requirements, e.g. a Certificate of Good Standing and English language proficiency before the SAB’s approval.
  6. Approval for specialist accreditation is subject to the decision of the SAB.



Framework for Specialist Accreditation

(Note: Only for the specialties and subspecialties recognised by the SAB)
Description of Training

Doctors who are specialist trained in Singapore and have received the JCST Letter of Completion of Specialist Training by the Joint Committee on Specialist Training (JCST)[1] Singapore.


[1]The JCST is a standing committee appointed by the Specialists Accreditation Board Singapore as prescribed under Section 34(10).

Doctors trained in UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Hong Kong and certified to have done and completed their specialist training in these countries. Postgraduate qualifications or certification of a specialist may not be recognised or accredited in Singapore if the training experience is not equivalent to the Singapore training based on the assessment by the Specialists Accreditation Board. They must have a valid Maintenance of Certification document (if this is applicable in the country of origin) and evidence to show that they are currently practicing in the full range of the specialty.

Doctors trained and specialist-certified in approved centres in European Countries (listed in the European Directive 93/16/EEC) should have a basic degree from a recognised medical school in the Second Schedule of the current Medical Registration Act Singapore (MRA Second Schedule) and have completed the entire specialist training in a university training hospital(s) of a recognised medical school in the MRA Second Schedule. Possess at least two years of specialist working experience in the European country where his specialty is recognised under the Directive 93/16/EEC, Swiss–EU/EFTA Agreement or EEA Agreement is a further requirement. Those with less than two years specialist working experience will be assessed by the SAB and conditions may be further imposed.

Other foreign trained specialist doctors with qualifications recognised by the SAB and who have undergone specialist training are required to have a number of years of specialist working experience in public institutions of adequate size and standing after acquiring the recognised qualifications, including specialist experience in public hospitals of adequate size and standing after they have been licensed as specialists in their country.

Please note that the above criteria are subject to change by the Specialists Accreditation Board.

In general for accreditation in Singapore, the specialist training and qualifications must be judged and deemed equivalent by the SAB to Singapore’s local residency programmes

Country-Specific Criteria for Specialist Accreditation

Detailed criteria are available for the list of countries stated below. For more in-depth information, please refer to the section on Country-Specific Criteria.

  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America
  • Australia and New Zealand
  • European Union Countries
  • Other Countries

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How to Apply for Specialist Accreditation in Singapore?



Applicants

All the information that you will need to apply for specialist accreditation can be found here. Follow one of these links to access the information relevant to you. After browsing the site, you can contact us if you still have queries.

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Further Information


Doctors who are listed in the “Register of Specialists” can use the title of “Specialist” followed by the name of their specialty, e.g. “Specialist in Internal Medicine”, or use the approved specialist titles by the Specialists Accreditation Board listed below.

For applicants seeking specialist accreditation in Singapore, the specialty training content completed will be judged and should be deemed by the SAB as equivalent to Singapore’s local residency programmes in the areas described as follows:

  1. General specialty clinical exposure under supervision and competencies obtained are similar to Singapore,
  2. Structured assessments have occurred through specialty training including at the conclusion (summative) of the specialty training,
  3. A clinical environment and practise exposure which shaped the specialty training being similar to Singapore, and
  4. Subsequent specialty practice reflects the reasonable range of settings for the specialty as defined locally.
  5. Please refer to the links in the list of specialties/sub-specialties below for the local residency training requirements.


Specialties

No.

Specialty

Approved Specialist Title

1

Anaesthesiology

Anaesthesiologist

Cardiology

Cardiologist

3

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Cardiothoracic Surgeon

4

Dermatology

Dermatologist

5

Diagnostic Radiology

Diagnostic Radiologist

6

Emergency Medicine

Emergency Physician

7

Endocrinology

Endocrinologist

8

Gastroenterology

Gastroenterologist

9

General Surgery

General Surgeon

10

Geriatric Medicine

Geriatrician

11

Haematology

Haematologist

12

Hand Surgery

Hand Surgeon

13

Infectious Diseases

Infectious Disease Physician

14

Internal Medicine

General Physician

15

Medical Oncology

Medical Oncologist

16

Neurology

Neurologist

17

Neurosurgery

Neurosurgeon

18

Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear Medicine Physician

19

Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

20

Occupational Medicine

Occupational Physician

21

Ophthalmology

Ophthalmologist

22

Orthopaedic Surgery

Orthopaedic Surgeon

23

Otorhinolaryngology /

Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) Surgery

Otorhinolaryngologist /

Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) Surgeon

24

Paediatric Medicine

Paediatrician

25

Paediatric Surgery

Paediatric Surgeon

26

Pathology

Pathologist

27

Plastic Surgery

Plastic Surgeon

28

Psychiatry

Psychiatrist

29

Public Health

Public Health Physician

30

Radiation Oncology

Radiation Oncologist

31

Rehabilitation Medicine

Rehabilitation Physician

32

Renal Medicine

Renal Physician

33

Respiratory Medicine

Respiratory Physician

34

Rheumatology

Rheumatologist

35

Urology

Urologist

Sub-specialties

No.

Sub-Specialty

Approved Specialist Title

1

Aviation Medicine

Aviation Medicine Physician

2

Intensive Care Medicine

Intensivist

3

Neonatology

Neonatologist

4

Palliative Medicine

Palliative Medicine Physician

5

Sports Medicine

Sports Physician

6

Paediatric Nephrology

Paediatric Nephrologist

7

Paediatric Cardiology

Paediatric Cardiologist

8

Paediatric Intensive Care

Paediatric Intensivist

9

Paediatric Gastroenterology

Paediatric Gastroenterologist

10

Paediatric Haematology & Oncology

Paediatric Haemato–Oncologist

If you seek for more information regarding the Specialist Accreditation in Singapore or Application process, please refer to the section on Further Information/FAQs.

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