Family Physician Registration
In order to practise as a Family Physician (FP) in Singapore, the doctor must be on either full or conditional medical registration with SMC and has a valid practising certificate. Doctors with relevant postgraduate academic qualifications and
experience that are specific to Family Medicine (FM) may be eligible to apply for accreditation with the Family Physicians Accreditation Board (FPAB).
Application procedures are as follow:
(i) First obtain accreditation by FPAB. Information on the accreditation application procedure is available on FPAB's website.
(ii) At the same time, apply to add his name to the Register of Family Physicians by submitting an online application to SMC with the stipulated fee for registration as an FP (see table). The doctor is not allowed to use the title “Family Physician”
until SMC admits his / her name into the Register of Family Physicians.
(iii) Stipulated Fee for FP Registration
| By Country of Postgraduate Qualification (as Family Physician) |
Fee Payable (one-time only) |
| Local-trained |
SGD$200 |
| Foreign-trained |
SGD$500 |
(iv) Doctors are encouraged to apply to include at least 1 registrable postgraduate qualification that is specific to Family Medicine into the Register for Medical Practitioners. Please refer to link for more information on application and fee for inclusion of a postgraduate qualification.
To ensure that the family physician registration is completed in a timely manner, the applicant is advised to apply for both family physician accreditation with the FPAB and family physician registration with the SMC concurrently. The doctor's
name will be entered into the Register of Family Physicians only after he / she has been accredited by FPAB.
In accordance with Section 22A of the Medical Registration Act, the date of entry of the doctor's name into the Register of Family Physicians shall be the approval date of his application for family physician registration by SMC. Back-dating of registration date for family physician registration is not legal and therefore will not be allowed.
Timeframe for processing
Provided all documentation required by SMC is submitted, the average turnaround time for an application for FP registration is about 4 weeks. Processing time may be longer (i.e. 8 weeks) for complex cases (e.g. requiring validation from overseas medical college or medical jurisdiction, pending Certificate of Good Standing to be sent to SMC from overseas medical authority) and during peak periods.