National Service Deferment for Enlistees Pursuing Qualifications in Medicine

Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Defence (a) what is the Ministry's current policy on National Service deferment for enlistees pursuing qualifications in medicine in local and overseas institutions across the educational spectrum from undergraduate to post-graduate and specialisation courses or training; (b) whether there have there been any changes to this policy since its inception; and (c) if exceptions have been made, under what circumstances have they been made.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: In response to a separate Parliamentary Question on 20 October 2011, the Minister for Defence has provided details to MINDEF's policy of disruption for medical studies which address the queries in this question. Please refer to that reply. To summarise, since 1973, MINDEF has allowed full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) to disrupt for medical studies as we need military doctors to serve in the SAF. From 1981 to 1992, disruption was extended to NSFs to obtain overseas medical degrees that were recognised by the Singapore Medical Council, as the number of local medical graduates was insufficient. From 1992, disruption for overseas medical studies was no longer allowed, as there were enough local medical graduates to meet the SAF's needs.

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The length of disruption varied, based on the time required to obtain the medical degree. It took longer for those completing medical degrees in the United States, where medicine is a graduate program and required a pre-medical degree for entry.

All those disrupted for medical studies met eligibility criteria that were explicitly stated.