Where Can You Practice with a UK medicine degree? ( Singapore )

You can apply to SMC for registration as a doctor in Singapore without sitting a licensing exam. Singapore does not require recognized graduates to take an additional test; your degree is accepted as equivalent to a local degree.

Provisional Registration & Housemanship:

You will typically be granted provisional registration to work as a House Officer (intern) in a Singapore hospital for one year. This is similar to an internship where you are supervised. (Local Singaporean graduates also do one year of housemanship after their MD degree.)

After completing one year of supervised practice and being certified competent, you become eligible for full registration in Singapore. Full registration allows independent practice.

It doesn’t matter what your nationality is – if your degree is recognized, you qualify for this route. Even those who graduated before the school was added to the list can benefit, as long as their school is on the current list. The key is that from 2025 onward, graduates of the 112 listed schools “can return to Singapore to practise” (subject to meeting other SMC requirements like English proficiency and employment by a healthcare institution).

Graduates of Non-Recognized Medical Schools:

If your UK medical school is not on Singapore’s list, the pathway is much more difficult:

You would have to pass the Singapore Qualifying Examination (SQE), a licensing exam conducted by SMC. This exam is infrequently offered and includes multiple parts (written and clinical). It is generally required only for those not from recognized schools.

You must also secure a job offer in Singapore and be sponsored by a local healthcare institution to even sit the SQE or to be conditionally registered. This means a hospital must be willing to hire you before you are fully licensed, which is rare unless you have some outstanding skill or there is a severe shortage.

In practice, very few doctors get licensed via the exam route – Singapore primarily relies on the recognized school list to screen foreign-trained doctors. Thus, attending a recognized UK medical school is highly recommended if you intend to work in Singapore in the future.

Practice Requirements:

All foreign-trained doctors (even from recognized schools) usually start under Conditional Registration in Singapore. This means you must work under supervision in an approved healthcare institution for a certain period. For new graduates, this is satisfied by the one-year housemanship. If you are more experienced, you may still need a period of supervised practice (typically a few years) before being eligible for full registration. During conditional registration, your performance is evaluated by supervisors. Once you fulfill the required period and assessments, you can convert to full registration, after which you can practice independently or in the private sector.

FindU Summary:

Singapore offers a clear path for UK graduates from recognized universities – essentially, you can slot into the system by doing a year of internship and then continue your medical career in Singapore. Ensure that the medical school you choose is on the SMC’s latest recognized list. Singapore periodically updates this list (for example, adding 9 new schools in 2025 due to healthcare demand). With a recognized UK MBBS and the requisite supervised training, you can obtain a Singapore medical license. If your degree isn’t recognized, the odds of practicing in Singapore are much lower due to the stringent exam and sponsorship requirements.