Palliative Medicine

Graduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine Programme

PROGRAMME DATES

Saturday, 16 August 2025 to Saturday, 28 March 2026

Final Exam (OSCE) Date: April/May 2026 (TBC)
Full-day commitment on exam day is required.

APPLICATION PERIOD

Monday, 27 January 2025 to Monday, 12 May 2025

If the application period is currently closed, please submit your interest to be included in our mailing list via this form.

APPLY ONLINE

CV Summary Form 2025_2026

PROGRAMME DETAILS ADMISSION FEES WITHDRAWAL

PROGRAMME DETAILS

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PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

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.

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.

ASSESSMENT / 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%

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.

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, 14 February 2026, 2359hrs. The submitted case report will be graded by a marker. This score will constitute 10% of the total assessment.

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.

INTAKE DATE

CME POINTS

ADMISSION

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ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Hold a recognised basic medical degree.
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).
Possess a valid Singapore Medical Council (SMC) Practising Certificate.
Have a minimum [1] year(s) of clinical experience post-graduation prior to the start of the programme and must continue to work in Singapore throughout the entire duration of the programme.

APPLICATION

Applicants are required to submit an online application via Graduate Admission System (GDA3) by the stipulated closing date. A step-by-step guide to applying online can be found A completed application would have fulfilled the following:

All required fields are accurately filled, and all supporting documents are uploaded into the system.
The non-refundable application fee payment is successful and supported by Tax Invoice (also known as the receipt), which is downloadable from the system.

The following documents must be submitted together with your application:

Recent passport-sized photograph (image has to be 400 by 514 pixels)
A copy of one’s CV (employment history; in ascending order) to be submitted in the template provided HERE.
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 (residing in Singapore)
Recognised basic medical degree certificate
Valid practising certificate (for Singapore applicants, screenshot a copy from the SMC portal)
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 are 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 examination.

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.

Successful applicants will be notified via email to accept the placement and make the Examination/Programme fee payment via the application portal. Placement will be confirmed only after payment receipt. The Division of Graduate Medical Studies (DGMS) is not obliged to provide any reasons for unsuccessful applications.

FEES

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FEES

Description	Fee (SGD)
Application fee*	87.20
Examination / Programme Fee	10,392.80
Payment Modes	PayNow / Credit Card

Notes:

All fees listed are in Singapore Dollars, including the prevailing Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate unless stated otherwise.
*The Application fee is non-refundable and must be paid at the time of application.
All payments should be supported by a Tax Invoice (also known as the receipt), which can be downloaded from the system upon successful payment.
Successful applicants will be notified via email to accept placement. Placement will be confirmed only after a successful payment transaction.
DGMS reserves all rights to review and adjust fees as necessary and accordingly without prior notice.

RESIT FEES

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:

fails to meet the minimum 75% attendance requirement previously or
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-course 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:

Description	Fee (SGD)
Re-sit Singular session fee	180.00
Re-Course fee	1,510.00
Re-Marking of case report fee	930.00
Re-take of final examination fee	1,390.00

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

STUDENT MISC FEES

Description	Fee (SGD)
Miscellaneous Student Fee	137.50 per semester for 2 semesters (amount is subject to yearly review)

The programme fees do not include the annual miscellaneous student fees, and other student-related expenses. The Miscellaneous Student Fee is charged by and payable to the NUS Office of Financial Services each semester. Payments can be made online through the student portal during the candidature period. Students on deferment are also required to pay the miscellaneous fee. For further details, please refer to the information here.

FUNDING

Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)'s Community Care Manpower Development Awards (CCMDA). Please visit https://www.aic.sg/resources/community-care-manpower-development-awardsfor 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.
This programme is eligible for the Skillsfuture Credit (SFC) scheme. 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.

WITHDRAWAL

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DEFERMENT POLICY

Students who wish to defer will need to write to DGMS, citing the reason for deferment and providing supporting evidence where applicable after acceptance of placement. This request will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The candidature will automatically lapse should an enrolled student fail to complete the programme within 3 years from the date of matriculation.

WITHDRAWAL POLICY

All withdrawal and refund requests will be subjected to 10% administrative charges capped at SGD500.00. To submit your request, please use this form.
All requests must be submitted within 14 calendar days from the last day of Examination end date or before the programme commencement date, where applicable.
Supporting documents must be submitted via email in all cases after submission of the online request.
The Division will generally consider providing refunds to candidates under the following circumstances:
- Medical – Refund request must be accompanied by a medical certificate.
- Pregnancy – Refund request must be accompanied by a medical report.
- Involvement in an accident, e.g. victim of crime, accident or disaster – Refund request must be supported by evidence such as a medical report and/or police report.
- Compassionate grounds - Bereavement in the immediate family refers to the loss of parent(s), grandparent, sibling, spouse, or child and must be supported by relevant documents such as a death certificate, proof of the relationship, etc.
Requests for refund under the following reasons will not be considered:
- Lack of preparedness or readiness for the Examination/Programme for which the candidate/student has enrolled.
- Failure to arrange time away from work.
- Inability to secure a visa or other travel documents required to attend the Examination/Programme.

For further inquiries, please contact:
Michael Tjeng (Mr) / Subashini (Ms)
Tel: (65) 6516 4915 / (65) 6516 3311
Email: mtjeng@nus.edu.sg / gsmv128@nus.edu.sg