Practising Certificate

Doctors who wish to apply for renewal of Practising Certificates (PC) or a new^# PCs must:

1. meet the CME requirements; and

2. do not have any outstanding fine for not voting at SMC’s Elections

Practising without medical registration and/or a valid PC amounts to a contravention of Section 17(1)(e) of the Medical Registration Act and, upon conviction, may result in the imposition of a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.

^#Applies to SMC’s registered doctors whose PC expired, suspension order is lifted or name has been restored to SMC’s Register of Medical Practitioners.

Online Application

The application must be submitted online at Login for doctors & partners. After you have logged in, please read the instructions thoroughly before proceeding with the application.

(A) Renewal of Practising Certificate

Doctors are able to renew their PC online 4 months before the PC expiry date at the prescribed fees. Do note that a late application fee will be incurred if the online application is made later than 1 month before the PC expires.

Click to view Useful Information on CPE for PC Renewal for Doctors [PDF, 3.2 MB].
*Please note that any reference to CPE is equivalent to CME.

Doctors who wish to apply or renew a PC for reduced practice must submit an application at least 1 month before their current PC expiry date.

Doctors who do not meet the criteria to renew PC must cease to practise medicine immediately when their PCs expire. If they wish to resume practice, they must comply with the prevailing CME requirements before they apply for a new PC.

(B) Applying for a Practising Certificate

Registered medical practitioners are able to apply for a new PC online at any time; subject to the following conditions:

a. Prevailing requirements for a new PC are met;
b. Suspension order (if any) lifted;
c. Name restored to SMC’s Register of Medical Practitioners (if applicable); and
d. For fully registered doctors whose last held PC has expired and who have not engaged in clinical practice for 3 or more years, whether in Singapore or overseas, you may be required to submit a satisfactory performance assessment report for SMC’s consideration to grant you a new PC. To obtain the assessment report, you will have to undergo an Observership for either 3 months (full-time) or 6 months (part-time) in an SMC-accredited healthcare institution.

Doctors seeking to apply for a practising certificate with SMC are required to declare their fitness to practise in the online application form. The application form contains questions relating to physical or mental illness or any condition which may impair fitness to practise as a medical practitioner.

Doctors who are making a declaration for fitness to practise should provide SMC with their attending physicians’ medical report. For more information, please refer to the FAQs on Declaration of Health Conditions [PDF, 124 KB].

Validity period of Practising Certificate

The validity period of a PC issued will be less than 12 months (for a one-year PC) or less than 24 months (for a two-year PC), to coincide with the expiry date on 31 December.

Processing time

The average time required for processing a straightforward application is about 3 weeks. Longer processing time is expected if SMC requires additional supporting documentation from the doctors or during peak periods.

The clock for processing will only start if the application and all documents submitted are considered in order by SMC. Incomplete applications will not be clocked and will be considered as withdrawn.