Financial burden and financial aid for medical students in Singapore: a national survey across all three medical schools.

Yeong Tze Wilnard Tan; Andrew Arjun Sayampanathan; Kannan Chidambaram; Yun Qing Koh; Jie Ming Nigel Fong; Jinrong Ivan Low; Chew Lip NG; Paul Ananth Tambyah

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Financial burden and financial aid for medical students in Singapore: a national survey across all three medical schools.

Author: Yeong Tze Wilnard TAN ¹ ; Andrew Arjun SAYAMPANATHAN ² ; Kannan CHIDAMBARAM ³ ; Yun Qing KOH ¹ ; Jie Ming Nigel FONG ² ; Jinrong Ivan LOW ¹ ; Chew Lip NG ³ ; Paul Ananth TAMBYAH ³
Author Information

1. Department of Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
2. Division of Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
3. Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: medical education; medical schools; national survey
MeSH: Cross-Sectional Studies; Financial Stress; Humans; Schools, Medical; Singapore; Students, Medical; Surveys and Questionnaires
From:Singapore medical journal 2022;63(1):14-19
CountrySingapore
Language:English
Abstract: INTRODUCTION:Singapore has had three medical schools since 2013. We undertook a cross-sectional quantitative national survey to determine the financial impact of medical education on medical students in Singapore.
METHODS:All 1,829 medical students in Singapore were invited to participate in this study. Information on demographics, financial aid utilisation and outside work was collected and analysed.
RESULTS:1,241 (67.9%) of 1,829 students participated in the survey. While the overall proportion of students from households with monthly incomes < SGD 3,000 was only 21.2% compared to the national figure of 31.4%, 85.4% of medical students expected to graduate with debts > SGD 75,000. There were significant differences in per capita incomes among the schools, with 54.5%, 23.3% and 7.8% of Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS), NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) students, respectively, reporting a per capita income of < SGD 1,000 (p < 0.001). There were significant differences in financial support: 75.0%, 34.1% and 38.8% of Duke-NUS, NUS Medicine and LKCMedicine students, respectively, received financial aid (p < 0.001). The top reasons for not applying for aid included a troublesome application process (21.4%) and the perception that it would be too difficult to obtain (21.0%).
CONCLUSION:Students in the three medical schools in Singapore differ in their financial needs and levels of financial support received. A national approach to funding medical education may be needed to ensure that financial burdens do not hamper the optimal training of doctors for Singapore's future.