Financial burden and financial aid for medical students in Singapore: a national survey across all three medical schools
Singapore medical journal
;
: 14-19, 2022.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-927258
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.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Schools, Medical
/
Singapore
/
Students, Medical
/
Cross-Sectional Studies
/
Surveys and Questionnaires
/
Financial Stress
Type of study:
Health economic evaluation
/
Observational study
/
Prevalence study
/
Risk factors
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Singapore medical journal
Year:
2022
Type:
Article
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