Healthcare Professional Conversion Programme

Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for Health whether there are any plans to include perfusionists, podiatrists, respiratory therapists and physician assistants in the Healthcare Professional Conversion Programme.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Today, we have Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP) for mid-career professionals who are keen to join healthcare as nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists or diagnostic radiographers. Under the Healthcare PCPs, trainees receive funding that covers the full fees of a local training programme, a monthly training allowance, and a Career Transition Bonus upon graduation.

Our Healthcare PCPs focus on disciplines where we have the most significant manpower needs and where there is adequate faculty to support a local training programme. There are currently no plans to extend the PCPs to podiatrists, respiratory therapists, perfusionists or physician assistants.

Instead, the Ministry of Health offers scholarships for Singaporeans to be trained as podiatrists and respirational therapists overseas. Over the past five years, we have awarded 20 scholarships for podiatry and 12 scholarships for respiratory therapy. Our public healthcare institutions also provide in-house training for biological sciences graduates to become perfusionists. We presently do not have physician assistants in the healthcare sector but are reviewing the various healthcare provider roles as we plan for the future.

We will continue to review our Healthcare PCPs as part of our strategy to grow and develop healthcare manpower.