Surgical Education and Training in Singapore

Surgical education and training in Singapore has evolved from the early days of informal, unstructured training to formalised training programmes and assessments. During the colonial period, the first medical school was founded in 1905 but it was not until 1921 when a formal Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree was offered. Post-graduate training only started after World War II, with support from the Royal Colleges in UK and Australia. With the formation of the Academy of Medicine and the School of Postgraduate Medical Studies, a formal, structured postgraduate training programme was started in 1970, and a formal exit degree was established as the Masters of Medicine (Surgery). The training programme was structured as basic surgical training (BST) followed by advanced surgical training (AST), initially as 3 years each (3 + 3 model) and later as 2 years BST followed by 4 years AST (2 + 4 model). The exit examination was converted to a conjoint tripartite examination with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong for quality assurance. In 2010, the US-style residency programme was introduced to replace the previous BST-AST programme, and a written examination component was set up to augment the conjoint exit examination. This article attempts to narrate the evolution of surgical training in Singapore and the current and future problems facing surgical training.