Highlights from the Honorary Secretary

Benny Loo Kai Guo

SMA letter on health insurance and healthcare costs

SMA wrote a letter to the Straits Times Forum to respond to a recent article on health insurance and healthcare costs. The letter summarises that any proposed changes should be centred on patients' medical needs.

SMA's letter was published on 26 May 2025 and can be found at https://bit.ly/43pUtKe.

Changes to application requirements for registration

We wish to highlight a Singapore Medical Council circular from 3 March 2025, regarding doctors with conditional registration who are applying for full registration.

With effect from 14 March 2025, the following documents are no longer mandatory:

  • Updated CV; and
  • Supporting testimonials from the head of department and chairman medical board or medical director.

More details on this can be found at this link: https://bit.ly/4jYKIb4.

SMA DIT 101 digital pocketbook

The SMA Doctors-in-Training (DIT) committee has developed the SMA DIT 101 digital pocketbook to help junior doctors navigate this challenging phase of their medical journey. Junior doctors can easily download this pocketbook onto their personal or MOH Holdings-issued corporate mobile devices.

Soft launched in October 2024, the pocketbook is designed to modernise and replace the SMA House Officer (HO) Handbook, which has been refined by many generations of HOs/doctors in training since 1998. The digital pocketbook will serve as a quick-access resource for all junior doctors on topics including clerking admissions, surviving on call, managing called-to-see-patient scenarios, handling professional communications with patients and colleagues, and more. These can be easily accessed on the go, and contents will be reviewed at regular intervals.

Members can visit https://smadit101.glide.page to install the pocketbook or access the contents using a web browser.


Benny Loo Kai Guo is a paediatrician in public service with special interest in sport and exercise medicine. He serves to see the smiles on every child and athlete, and he looks forward to the company of his wife and children at the end of every day.

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