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Is ths not the same CB who restricted the no. of Sporns going into medical school for many years and even till now? Yet when it cums to FTrash, anything goes! He's not called a Lao CB for nothing!
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>1,000 foreign-trained docs still not enough
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi
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</TD><TD width=10>
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An artist's impression of the new National Heart Centre. Mr Khaw spoke on the need for a third medical school at the ground-breaking event yesterday. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL HEART CENTRE
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View more photos
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->To ease Singapore's doctor shortage, the public health-care sector had to recruit as many as 1,000 foreign-trained doctors in the past three years.
This deficit is the reason Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan thinks Singapore should have a third medical school.
'In the long term, I think we will need one,' he said.
'Our population is already five million. Elsewhere, there is one medical school per two million people. If we need one in 10 or 15 years' time, we have to start thinking now,' he told reporters yesterday at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new National Heart Centre building on Hospital Drive.
In Parliament last week, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said the Education and Health ministries are considering the setting up of a third medical school to improve the doctor-to-patient ratio and quality of health care in Singapore.
There may not be enough doctors to support the two new public hospitals coming up by 2015, despite the two present medical schools - the National University of Singapore's and the Duke-NUS Graduate medical school - upping their enrolment.
Observers believe that Nanyang Technological University will be the site of the new medical school. NTU provost Bertil Andersson told The Straits Times last week that discussions are under way with government agencies.
Mr Khaw said yesterday that plans for the school are still tentative. However, he said it is important for discussions to begin now since it takes at least 10 years for a new medical school to produce doctors.
Given the lead time needed, it may not be too early to make a decision within the next couple of years, he added.
In the meantime, the Government will 'stretch the two existing medical schools to the maximum possible' and recruit foreign- trained doctors, he said.
However, there is a limit to the additional students the two existing medical schools can accept.
The National University of Singapore's medical school, with its last enrolment of 260 students, is already nearing its maximum capacity of 300, he said.
NUS has plans to bump up enrolment to the maximum 300 in two years' time.
On the other hand, the Duke-NUS Graduate medical school, which takes in about 50 postgraduate students each year, may have 'some way to go'.
As for foreign doctors, the Health Ministry has for some years been intensively recruiting them. In 2006, ministry officials went to Britain and Australia to woo doctors to the public sector.
The following year, the two public health-care clusters, SingHealth and the National Healthcare Group, held a recruitment drive in India.
In 2007, the ministry also expanded its list of recognised foreign medical schools to 159, to include many top medical schools in Asia. The list now includes several schools in China, India and Japan. There were only 20 foreign medical schools listed in 2003.
The result of the new move was a 25 per cent jump in the number of doctors here in the past three years, said Mr Khaw.
Ultimately, the decision on whether or not to have a third medical school will largely depend on Singapore's population size, he said. 'A lot would depend on the final population size. Whatever it is, I'm quite certain that eventually we will need one.'
At the ground-breaking ceremony attended by Mr Khaw yesterday, the design and plans for the new National Heart Centre building were unveiled.
When it is ready in 2013, the 12-storey building will have 38 clinics - more than three times the number of clinics in the current building on Third Hospital Avenue.
It will also have day-surgery facilities which will enable patients to have a shorter hospital stay and, hence, lower bills.
Facilities such as self-registration kiosks, one-stop payment and self-payment kiosks will cut down on waiting time. The centre will be built on the site of Singapore General Hospital's old isolation wards.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>1,000 foreign-trained docs still not enough
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
An artist's impression of the new National Heart Centre. Mr Khaw spoke on the need for a third medical school at the ground-breaking event yesterday. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL HEART CENTRE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->To ease Singapore's doctor shortage, the public health-care sector had to recruit as many as 1,000 foreign-trained doctors in the past three years.
This deficit is the reason Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan thinks Singapore should have a third medical school.
'In the long term, I think we will need one,' he said.
'Our population is already five million. Elsewhere, there is one medical school per two million people. If we need one in 10 or 15 years' time, we have to start thinking now,' he told reporters yesterday at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new National Heart Centre building on Hospital Drive.
In Parliament last week, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said the Education and Health ministries are considering the setting up of a third medical school to improve the doctor-to-patient ratio and quality of health care in Singapore.
There may not be enough doctors to support the two new public hospitals coming up by 2015, despite the two present medical schools - the National University of Singapore's and the Duke-NUS Graduate medical school - upping their enrolment.
Observers believe that Nanyang Technological University will be the site of the new medical school. NTU provost Bertil Andersson told The Straits Times last week that discussions are under way with government agencies.
Mr Khaw said yesterday that plans for the school are still tentative. However, he said it is important for discussions to begin now since it takes at least 10 years for a new medical school to produce doctors.
Given the lead time needed, it may not be too early to make a decision within the next couple of years, he added.
In the meantime, the Government will 'stretch the two existing medical schools to the maximum possible' and recruit foreign- trained doctors, he said.
However, there is a limit to the additional students the two existing medical schools can accept.
The National University of Singapore's medical school, with its last enrolment of 260 students, is already nearing its maximum capacity of 300, he said.
NUS has plans to bump up enrolment to the maximum 300 in two years' time.
On the other hand, the Duke-NUS Graduate medical school, which takes in about 50 postgraduate students each year, may have 'some way to go'.
As for foreign doctors, the Health Ministry has for some years been intensively recruiting them. In 2006, ministry officials went to Britain and Australia to woo doctors to the public sector.
The following year, the two public health-care clusters, SingHealth and the National Healthcare Group, held a recruitment drive in India.
In 2007, the ministry also expanded its list of recognised foreign medical schools to 159, to include many top medical schools in Asia. The list now includes several schools in China, India and Japan. There were only 20 foreign medical schools listed in 2003.
The result of the new move was a 25 per cent jump in the number of doctors here in the past three years, said Mr Khaw.
Ultimately, the decision on whether or not to have a third medical school will largely depend on Singapore's population size, he said. 'A lot would depend on the final population size. Whatever it is, I'm quite certain that eventually we will need one.'
At the ground-breaking ceremony attended by Mr Khaw yesterday, the design and plans for the new National Heart Centre building were unveiled.
When it is ready in 2013, the 12-storey building will have 38 clinics - more than three times the number of clinics in the current building on Third Hospital Avenue.
It will also have day-surgery facilities which will enable patients to have a shorter hospital stay and, hence, lower bills.
Facilities such as self-registration kiosks, one-stop payment and self-payment kiosks will cut down on waiting time. The centre will be built on the site of Singapore General Hospital's old isolation wards.
