Singapore has added eight overseas institutions to its list of recognised universities for medicine, increasing the total from 112 to 120, according to a joint announcement by the Ministry of Health and the Singapore Medical Council.

• Workforce figures: The total number of registered doctors reached 17,582 at end-2024, an increase from 11,733 at end-2014. The doctor-to-population ratio decreased from 1:466 in 2014 to 1:343 in 2024.
• Training profile: Close to 60 per cent of doctors were trained locally. Of the 7,150 foreign-trained doctors, more than half are Singaporeans and more than 31 per cent are permanent residents. The proportion of foreign-trained doctors has remained largely stable at about 40 per cent.
• Local intake: Combined intake across Singapore’s three medical schools was around 440 in 2014 and 555 in 2025. In 2020 and 2021, an additional 40 medical students were admitted each year when overseas studies were disrupted by Covid-19.

In 2019, the Ministry of Health accepted a recommendation to reduce recognised overseas medical schools from 160 to 103.

This summary is based on a report published by The Straits Times.