Help Physio moving to singapore!!!!!

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Sat, 26 Nov 2011 8:23 pm

tic...toc...tic...toc....

Obviously, sgagent, you are not. Do you think for a moment, that a forum, that is hosted by a real estate portal, will entertain used Trabby salesmen to try soliciting on their Mercedes showroom? Either that or your are quite naive.

moderator

*the other moderator was being kind. I'm not usually that benevolent. You at least still have the right to reply. So far.

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Sat, 26 Nov 2011 9:25 pm

SG Agent wrote:Im just helping out Mr keeks here because he seems to be particularly concern with accommodation here in singapore. Although point 1 and 2 have been mentioned I did add in additional details just to make the point a little clearer. Also I've noticed that nobody mentioned about whole unit rental earlier in this very thread like you have said.

Cheers and have a nice day =)

Sir, do you do such 'help' Free of charge ??

Oh, Mods, if he is doing such work FOC, well, I would cut him some leeway..

@Alan · Post by **@Alan** » Sat, 17 Dec 2011 9:29 pm

The physios will be subject to the Allied Health Professions Act to kick in come January. Physios wishing to work in Singapore should try to clarify with their new boss the registration requirements, e.g. whether the need to take exams or not.

gravida · Post by **gravida** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 9:55 am

@Alan, I honestly doubt that physiotherapist trained in UK will have to go through any exam. The Allied Health Professions Act 2011 is to regulate the PT, OT, ST and so on professions in Singapore and to stop those people who do not have appropriate education to claim they are actually professionals.
I am assuming that anyone who was educated in UK and allowed to work there as PT, for sure can do the same work here without the need to go through any certification.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:21 am

gravida, why not? Singapore requires testing when converting a UK or US drivers license, or if they are lawyers they need to be certified for Singapore unless they are queens council, most professionals need to be certified here especially if it's health related or legal services. I reckon Physios like to consider themselves professionals so shouldn't complain at further solidification of their expertise. I believe even MD's are required to be certified to practice in Singapore.

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:29 am

gravida wrote:...

And to add on, the medical recruiters here / employers here know the proper registration process and it is not like you walk in and find out that your "BOSS" forgot to seek proper approval et al ..

Say my 2 cents ..

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:58 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:gravida, why not? Singapore requires testing when converting a UK or US drivers license, or if they are lawyers they need to be certified for Singapore unless they are queens council, most professionals need to be certified here especially if it's health related or legal services. I reckon Physios like to consider themselves professionals so shouldn't complain at further solidification of their expertise. I believe even MD's are required to be certified to practice in Singapore.

And .. atleast in the case of Doctors, the local SMC tightly controls who can come and dispense medication .. and MDs generally get a year-by-year license to practice, initially ..

So, yes, there is no automatic conversion ..

gravida · Post by **gravida** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:20 pm

Why not? Because there is still shortage of therapists (occupational, physio, speech) in Singapore. Because so far there was close to none control over the professions. I mean, there were associations that give membership only to qualified professionals, but there was no act, no law actually that was controlling the market. It is easy to google out some of the "therapy" centres claiming they provide professional services while the people working there do not have relevant qualifications.
Well, even on that board some time ago was a tread "my wife plans to open speech therapy preschool". W-what? Speech therapy is what the name says - therapy, not playgroup, not auditory-verbal therapy, not preschool.

Going back to the main "why not". Because for instance only very recently the masters course in speech therapy was opened in Singapore (so, up till 2007 every ST was actually trained overseas). Because the above mentioned course is still just a masters course, so you have to have bachelor to take it. Because one can only receive diploma in PT and OT (Nanyang Polytechnic) in Singapore, so to actually have a degree (bachelor or masters) you still need to pursue further studies (can be done locally, but not as a regular course, but again - conversion course by an overseas uni).

I think it is enough of "because". Allied health professionals in Singapore are just starting to get the attention, the act is coming into life (gradually) next year, so the professions cannot be compared to lawyers, medical doctors and so on.
Of course, all of those who have already been members of the professional associations, needed to proof that their qualifications were relevant, but there have been (and still are) quite a number of people who do not have degrees and yet deliver "therapy". Of course such thing will not happen when the person is hired by the hospitals, come on, the hospitals, voluntary welfare organizations and good private therapy centres would never hire someone without relevant education.

So, frankly, no "conversion" is required. Some of the university diplomas will be automatically recognized as valid, for some of the people, the associations will require maybe transcripts of records. I have never heard about the case that physio/speech/OT had to pass any kind of examination here, but of course I do not know everything.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:48 pm

Hopefully, it will come to pass and quickly too. Before too many cowboys come in and then we have something like the Insurance Agents 15 years or so ago, and more recently the Real Estate Agents (ongoing - most of them are so unqualified they cannot even read a T&A). Certifications are a must, especially in a new society so that the industry get off on the right foot. Otherwise, you have the crap like Optometrists and Opticians. I'd rather see them licensed for sure.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:51 pm

There are a number of educational institutions been in the news lately that have closed their doors, and left their student hanging out to dry, flapping in the breeze. The were vetted by Edutrust as well I believe, so I don't quite believe that there is no way a hospital wouldn't hire one.

gravida · Post by **gravida** » Tue, 20 Dec 2011 9:08 am

Agree.
That is why I am personally VERY happy the Allied Health Professions Act is coming into life. I hope it will lead towards more clear and structured system (like for instance in U.S., where it is not enough to complete the University, you have to work under supervision of a senior therapist and pass exams to become certified therapist) for the benefit of both: the clients and those of the therapists that actually are professional and provide quality services.
There must be some kind of control over it, especially that this is so much more sophisticated than for example trading. People's health comes into play.

SMS, I have no idea frankly what educational institutions you are talking about, but when it comes to hiring allied health professionals it usually works this way (in places like hospitals VWOs and so on) that one of the job requirements is to have or to be eligible for professional association membership. That actually solves the problem. If you have a membership - you are educated relevantly.
Out of curiosity I have checked just now
1. Alexandra Hospital - they do require membership,
2. SGH went even a step further: "Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy accredited by World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT)"
3. KKH - are currently looking only for psychologists and they do require membership
4. Parkway Health hospitals - require membership
5. VWOs (APSN, MINDS, Rainbow Centre)- either require membership or degree from accredited University

That's all what I have checked

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Tue, 20 Dec 2011 9:36 am

gravida wrote: That's all what I have checked

Then again, I have come across enough and more qualified OTs from Myanmar, who are working as 'assistants' due to registration issues .. and I understand that unlike Nursing board exam, there is none for OT ..

gravida · Post by **gravida** » Tue, 20 Dec 2011 5:05 pm

That's interesting. I have had a work colleague who was from Myanmar and working here as PT with no problems.
What do you mean by "registration"? As SAOT member?

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Tue, 20 Dec 2011 5:30 pm

gravida wrote:That's interesting. I have had a work colleague who was from Myanmar and working here as PT with no problems.
What do you mean by "registration"? As SAOT member?

Yes, the Association for OTs who endorse or approve the credentials - like SMC - as I understand ..

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