Public health positions

[A-C]

Dear all,

This post to know if it is easy to get a job in public health in Singapore for a European.

I intend to move to Singapore for family reasons in 2018/2019 but I am a bit a afraid by the job search. I am currently a public health medical doctor, working for a government on public health policies, planning and programs, as a civil servant.
Anyone here working on the same areas, in public health, research ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[the lynx]

Dear all,

This post to know if it is easy to get a job in public health in Singapore for a European.

I intend to move to Singapore for family reasons in 2018/2019 but I am a bit a afraid by the job search. I am currently a public health medical doctor, working for a government on public health policies, planning and programs, as a civil servant.
Anyone here working on the same areas, in public health, research ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Well that depends. How do you define public health medical doctor? Are you a GP or are you a specialist, researcher etc?

Public health sector is a huge thing for Singapore especially for tropical medicine. But as an European you won't definitely get a job in government for say, policy, planning and programmes because those are normally reserved for Singaporeans.

The only area I can see a foreign involvement for public health is that if you are a researcher for tropical medicine, virology, biomedicine etc through government research agencies like A*Star, Duke-NUS etc. If this is the area you're thinking about, then feel free to ask more questions here.

But if you're looking to practise only, check if your medical license needs to be recognised by Singapore's medical council first before you venture into this angle. I'm not from that side of field so I'll let a medical professional to comment instead.

Hope this helps.

[A-C]

Thanks for your answer.

I am a MD but my specialty is public health (like you can choose to be a GP, a psychiatrist, a surgeon, I chose to be a public health consultant with a specific residency program). So I am not a clinician, I don't see patients. I have been trained either to work on policies, programs or research at different levels.

However I dont' have any qualifications regarding tropical medicine, virology, biomedicine. I have an international master from a well-known university in London. I am more into mental health, children development, migrants health, health ethics, human rights...
Do you know about specific government research agencies working on these topics?

[the lynx]

I am more into mental health, children development, migrants health, health ethics, human rights...
Do you know about specific government research agencies working on these topics?

Thanks for the details. It gives more clarity to your situation. Yes there are many government agencies that deal with these, under directives of respective ministries or government statutory boards depending which topics.

For example:

1. Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) under Ministry of Manpower and NTUC. They do conduct researches that focus on employment issues. However, they do not have independent research capacity and their research arrangement is usually from NUS, etc. I am not surprised if their employment is strictly for Singaporeans only and only for administrative level.

2. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2). It is an NGO which may have flexibility to involve foreign/external research capability. However, you may struggle making money out of them if making money is your intention.

3. Of course, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education do have own teams of psychologists and physicians for in-house research. I know some of them. Also tough to get into if you are a foreigner.

If you already have rights to live in Singapore independent to your vocation etc, you will have more room to search and network here, and start with volunteering/internship to work your way in. But if you need an employment pass to do this, you are stretching yourself unless you know someone who can bend Singapore government's preference against foreign employment for you.

Or might you be interested in doing doctorate in these topics in Singapore universities (NUS, SMU) instead? Just throwing out here just in case it is purely the cause/progression specifically in Singapore that you are looking for.

[A-C]

Thanks a lot. I am going to look at these agencies and think about PhD.

[Aim]

Hi. I would also like to ask a question regarding public health. I am a fresh MBBS graduate and in singapore on ltvp. My university is not recognised in singapore.
I plan to do mph. What are the chances of getting admission in nus graduate diploma in epidemiology and job prospects after that ?

[the lynx]

Hi. I would also like to ask a question regarding public health. I am a fresh MBBS graduate and in singapore on ltvp. My university is not recognised in singapore.
I plan to do mph. What are the chances of getting admission in nus graduate diploma in epidemiology and job prospects after that ?

I am not familiar with NUS graduate programmes and enrollment procedures or requirements. You can check it out here: http://www.nus.edu.sg/admissions/graduate-studies/

Job prospects - Refer to my reply to OP above, especially on research agencies.

[Shradha]

Hi. I have done Master in Dental Surgery (Periodontology) from India. My degree is not recognised in Singapore, so I am planning to do MPH (Masters in Public Health) from Singapore. Kindly guide about the course and scope/job opportunities of the same.