Palliative Medicine

Fees 

Description	Fee (SGD)
Application fee*	76.30
Programme fee (inclusive of Examination fee)	9,893.70
Miscellaneous Student Fee#	136.20 per semester for 2 semesters  (amount is subject to changes)

Notes:

• Payment modes: PayNow (preferred), VISA, Mastercard or Amex
• *Application fee is non-refundable and must be paid at the time of online application.
• Programme Fee is only payable after successful Programme enrolment upon further notification.
• Successful applicants will be notified via email to accept placement and make Programme Fee payment online. Placement will be confirmed only after payment receipt.
  
• All fees are inclusive of the prevailing GST rate and subject to changes without prior notice.
• #Miscellaneous Student Fee is charged by and payable to NUS Office of Financial Services. It will be payable online via the student portal during the term of study. For more details, please refer to http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/administrative-policies-procedures/graduate/graduate-fees 

Programme Objective 

The Graduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine (GDPM) Programme is offered by the Division of Graduate Medical Studies (DGMS), NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, in collaboration with the Chapter of Palliative Medicine Physicians (CPMP). 

The Programme aims to train practicing doctors, especially family physicians, to be competent and confident in managing patients who require palliative care in the clinic and in the home setting. 

The Programme is also relevant to family physicians working in hospices, nursing homes, community hospitals, and home medical services, and to non-specialist doctors and specialists in other disciplines who may be interested in palliative care. 

Programme Overview 

This is a ten-month part-time Programme designed for a busy physician interested to deepen his/her knowledge and clinical skills in palliative medicine. The curriculum covers the breadth of palliative care, including principles of palliative care, symptom management, the psychosocial dimension, communications, ethical and legal issues as well as practical procedures. 

There will be Programme-reading materials for self-study, seminars with group discussion on case vignettes, group learning via group tutorials, and 6 full-day attachments in various palliative care settings – hospital-based palliative medicine unit, inpatient hospice services and home hospices. 

Programme Components 

A. Programme Courses ‐ The Programme consists of 6 Courses: 

• Course 1: Introduction to Palliative Care  
• Course 2: Symptom Management in Palliative Care I  
• Course 3: Symptom Management in Palliative Care II  
• Course 4: Psychiatry, Psychosocial Care & Spiritual Issues in Palliative Care  
• Course 5: Communication and Ethical Issues  
• Course 6: Practices of Palliative Medicine 

Please refer to the tentative programme schedule here.

B. Saturday Seminars & Group Tutorials 

There are 3 Saturday afternoon sessions per 1.5-month Course. Each session consists of 2 hours of seminar and 2 hours of group tutorial. In total, there are 18 Saturday afternoon sessions in the whole Programme. The mode of delivery of the sessions may be face-to-face or via an online platform. Do note that DGMS reserves the right to make changes to the Programme schedule/mode of delivery.  

The reading materials can be downloaded at least two weeks before each Saturday session for pre-session preparation. The lecture notes will be available after the Saturday session.

C. Clinical Attachment 

There will be a clinical attachment of 8 hours (one full day) per Course during office hours. In total, there will be 6 full days of clinical attachment per student. Students will be rotated to various palliative care units, including hospice home care services, inpatient hospice services and hospital-based palliative care services, under the supervision of a Specialist in Palliative Medicine in the unit.  

 

Eligibility Criteria 

The following requirements must be met by the start of the Programme: 

1. Full or conditional registration with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC); doctors with temporary registration with SMC must support their applications with a letter of recommendation from their Head of Department (HOD). 
2. A valid practising certificate with SMC. 
3. At least one year of working experience in Singapore prior to the start of the Programme and must continue to work in Singapore throughout the entire duration of the Programme. 

Intake Date 

The Programme commences in July 2023 and is conducted once yearly subject to minimum uptake. 

CME Points 

CME points will be awarded to successfully enrolled students who attend the GDPM sessions. 

Programme Assessment and Examination 

A candidate will be assessed in the following way: 

Examination Format	Weighting
End-of-Course Examination	30%
Case Report	10%
Final Examination	60%
Total	100%

1.End-of-Course Examination (30%) An online examination is held at the end of each Course. To be eligible for the Course Examination, a student must attend at least 2 out of the 3 Saturday sessions per Course. This online Course Examination consists of 50 MCQs. Each student will attempt the online end of Course Examination during the stipulated duration on the scheduled exam date. Completion of each Course will require: 

• a pass at the end-of-Course examination 
• completion of the one-day clinical attachment  
• a duly signed reflective writing/case log by the site supervisor 

The weighting of each end-of-Course Examination would be 5%. The six end-of-Course Examinations would therefore constitute 30% of the total assessment.

2.Case Report (10%) Each student is required to submit one case report with an evidence-based literature review of a patient with palliative care needs. This may be the student’s patient in his/her work setting or a patient with whom he/she comes into contact during the clinical attachment. At least 2 clinical encounters with the patient are required. The case report must be submitted online to the Programme Administrator by the end of Course 5, 22 February 2025, 2359hrs. The submitted case report will be graded by a marker. This score will constitute 10% of the total assessment.

3.Final Examination (60%) To be eligible for the Final Examination, each student must fulfil the following criteria: 

• completed all 6 Courses (passed all 6 Course Examinations, completed 6 days of Clinical Attachment with submission of reflective writing and case logs)
• achieved at least 75% attendance rate for all Saturday sessions (i.e. 14 out of 18 Saturday sessions)
• achieved a “Pass” in the case report

The Final Examination constitutes 60% of the total assessment. It consists of 8 OSCE clinical stations assessing various skills in palliative medicine. A student must obtain a pass for 6 clinical stations to pass the Final Examination.

Successful completion of this GDPM Programme will require a “Pass” in the Final Examination and an achievement of at least 50% in the overall marks.

Returning Students

Returning students who may need to retake certain components of the Programme would have to pay the following fees as indicated:

1.Singular Saturday Session Fee

The singular Saturday session fee would apply to a student who:

1. fails to meet the minimum 75% attendance requirement previously or
2. requires a refresher session (e.g. those who failed the exam previously or who deferred the Programme)

This group of students may attend singular Saturday session(s) during the next Programme intake upon paying the singular Saturday fee.

2.Re-Course Fee

A student who failed or was unable to complete one or more Courses may repeat the Course(s) during the next Programme intake upon paying the re-module fee.

3.Marking of Case Report Fee

A student who did not submit the case report by the stipulated deadline and is regarded as having failed the case report may submit the case report in the following year upon paying the marking of the case report fee.

4.Re-take of Final Examination Fee

A student who failed the Final Examination may retake the Final Examination at the next available exam sitting upon paying the examination fee. A student who fails the Final Examination twice will be required to retake the entire Programme. All students must complete the Programme within 3 years.

The fees are summarised below:

Descriptions	Fees (SGD)
Re-sit Singular session fee	176.00
Re-Course fee	1,430.00
Re-Marking of case report fee	880.00
Re-take of final examination fee	1,320.00

All fees stated above are inclusive of the prevailing GST rate.

Funding

The Programme is eligible for the following funding schemes:

1. 1. 1. Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)'s Community Care Manpower Development Awards (CCMDA). Please visit https://www.aic.sg/resources/community-care-manpower-development-awards for more information. The application will have to be submitted via an eligible supporting Community Care organisation or your Community Care employer. You may contact AIC via their enquiry form or call the AIC hotline at 1800-650-6060 for more information.
      2. Claim Skillsfuture credit - At the point of programme registration, please inform the programme administrator that you intend to use your SkillsFuture Credit in part or in full for the qualifying programme fee. You should then submit your claim on the MySkillsFuture Portal within 60 days before the programme start date (date inclusive). Please visit the Skillsfuture site for more information.

Minimum and Maximum Number of Candidates

The GDPM Programme will commence upon the successful enrolment of a minimum of 20 students. The maximum capacity for each intake is 30 students. Should there be an over-subscription, applicants may be placed on the waiting list and will be contacted once a vacancy becomes available.

Application

Please submit your application online via the Graduate Admission System (GDA2) by the closing date as stipulated above. A step-by-step guide to applying online can be found here. A completed application would have fulfilled the following:

1. all required fields are accurately completed and all supporting documents are uploaded into the system
2. a unique 10-digit application number is auto-generated by the system (we recommend that you jot down this number for reference)
3. payment is successful and supported by Receipt/Tax Invoice which is downloadable from the system

Please note that a successfully completed application does not indicate a successful placement or admission into the Programme.

All applications and fees must be submitted by the closing date as stipulated above. Late or incomplete applications will not be entertained. Hardcopy and email applications will not be accepted.

The following documents must be submitted in GDA2 by the closing date:

• CV (employment history; in ascending order) to be submitted using the template provided HERE.
• A recent passport-sized photograph (image in jpeg format must be 400 x 514 pixel)
• Certified true copy / scanned coloured copy of the following documents (Official English translations will be required for stamps or certificates sent that are not in English):
  • Identification documents:
    • NRIC: for locals / Permanent Residents
    • Employment Pass and Passport: for foreigners
  • Recognised basic medical degree
  • Valid practising certificate
  • Certificates of other medical qualifications, where applicable
  • English Language Proficiency Test scores, where applicable

Photocopies of certificates and/or official translations (in English)^# including any other official supporting documents will be accepted only if they have been prepared and/or authenticated by one of the following:

• Issuing University of Medical School
• Medical Council of which you are registered and licensed to practice
• Ministry of Health, Singapore
• Notary public or Justice of the Peace
• Division of Graduate Medical Studies (DGMS) - For authentication by DGMS office, original certificates and documents must be produced

#Applicants must submit an authenticated translation if their official supporting documents is not in English. A fresh ink stamp must be used to authenticate the copy or translation of the primary medical qualification.

Applicants who fail to present their original documents for verification without acceptable reasons will not be admitted to the Programme.

Applicants whose original documents have been damaged or misplaced must apply to the relevant organisations / authorities for replacements or letters of verification.

An applicant is only allowed to enrol concurrently in another programme offered by NUS or another University only if granted approval from the Vice Dean of Faculty and the Head of Department. The Degree Programme refers to any programme (including examination-only programmes) which leads to NUS Degree conferment. DGMS is not obliged to provide reasons for unsuccessful applications. Other respective rules/regulations of DGMS apply.

Withdrawal Policy

Students must contact the respective Officer-in-Charge (OIC) as soon as they know that they are unable to participate for the Programme/Examination enrolled. Request to withdraw from the Programme/Examination must be made in writing. Emails are acceptable.

Students who notify the Division their unavailability to attend the Programme/Examination on or after the Programme/Examination dates may request for a refund within 14 calendar days from the last day of the Examination and provide the supporting evidence where appropriate. The Division will generally consider providing refunds to candidates under the following circumstances:

1. Illness – Refund request must be accompanied by a medical certificate.
2. Pregnancy – Refund request must be accompanied by a medical report.
3. Involvement in an accident, e.g. victim of crime, accident or disaster – Refund request must be supported by evidence such as medical report and/or police report.
4. Bereavement in the immediate family – This normally refers to the loss of parent, grandparent, sibling, spouse, or child and must be supported by relevant documents such as a death certificate, proof of the relationship, etc.

Supporting evidence must be presented in all cases.

All refund granted will be subject to 10% administrative charges capped at $500.00.

Requests for refund under the following reasons will not be considered:

1. Lack of preparedness or readiness for the Programme/Examination for which the student has enrolled.
2. Failure to arrange time away from work.
3. Inability to secure a visa or other travel documents required to attend the Programme/Examination.

 

To submit your interest in this Programme and to be included in our mailing list, please complete this form.

For further inquiries, please contact:
Michael Tjeng (Mr)
Tel: (65) 6516 3301
Email: m.tjeng@nus.edu.sg