Proposal to Review Specialist Training under Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef’s inquiry regarding the review and customization of specialist training under the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to produce more generic specialists. Minister Gan Kim Yong replied that following a 2014 review, the Ministry is contextualizing the model to provide specialists with broader competencies for holistic care. From next year, specialist training will commence after a generic postgraduate year one, alongside the introduction of mandatory geriatric medicine modular training for non-Internal Medicine residents. These measures aim to prepare specialists for an ageing population by aligning their training with specific local healthcare requirements. Minister Gan Kim Yong added that the Ministry will continue to engage stakeholders and ACGME International to make further refinements to the training framework.
Transcript
36 Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked ask the Minister for Health (a) whether there will be a review of the current specialist training under the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME); (b) whether the Ministry is ready to customise and evolve the specialist training programme to suit our specific needs; and (c) how will the specialist training programme be aligned with the call to have more generic specialists to meet our population's needs.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The current Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) International (ACGME-I) accredited medical postgraduate training system was introduced in Singapore in 2010 to bring about a more systematic and consistent training for medical specialists. Compared to the former apprenticeship training method, the system provides trainee doctors, who are called "residents", better defined training objectives and competencies, more structured curriculum and regular formative assessments.
In 2014, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reviewed the training model and concluded that it was meeting our overall objectives. The review also identified areas for improvement, one of which was to contextualise the model to better suit our specific needs.
MOH has been working on the recommended improvements and contextualisation. For example, to better prepare our medical specialists for our ageing population, we are providing our specialists with broader competencies for more holistic care delivery. From next year, doctors will start their specialist training after completing a generic postgraduate year one (PGY1) training. A mandatory geriatric medicine modular training programme has also been instituted as part of residency training for all non-Internal Medicine residents.
We will continue to engage and take in the inputs of our stakeholders, including our healthcare institutions, medical community and ACGME-I, and make refinements to our training framework to better meet local needs.