22 August 2017
Singapore’s universities are accepting more polytechnic graduates into their medical degree courses.
This year, 11 polytechnic graduates won places at NUS’ Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
The medicine courses at NUS and NTU admit about 300 and 120 students respectively a year, with most entrants coming from local junior colleges.
Polytechnics generally do not design their curricula specifically to prepare students to enter medical school, but the polytechnic courses nonetheless provide a good foundation for medical studies as well as careers in related fields.
For example, the biomedical science and biotechnology courses at Singapore Polytechnic cover topics such as monitoring and managing diseases, research in diagnostics and cures, and the production of pharmaceuticals. These courses form a good foundation for a career in the biomedical science, pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.