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Point requirements for doctors
Compulsory CME and core points requirements
Last updated 8 April 2025
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CME requirements
Please refer to the summary table below for the CME requirements for various applications.
CME requirements for various applications
Application Type | CME Requirements | Qualifying Period (QP) |
|---|---|---|
PC Renewal for doctors holding a 2-year PC from 1 January 2024 | 50 CME points, of which 20% or 10 points shall be core points in each of their registered specialty and/or in Family Medicine; and 10% or 5 points shall be from Ethics core programmes. Note: For doctors with PCs which do not start on 1 Jan, their CME requirements will be adjusted accordingly. | Current PC validity period. e.g. PCs starting on 1 Jan Current PC (2 year) and QP: Current PC (1 year) and QP: PCs not starting on 1 Jan Current PC (2 year) and QP: Current PC (1 year) and QP: |
PC Renewal for doctors holding a 1-year PC from 1 January 2024 | 25 CME points, of which 20% or 5 points shall be core points in each of their registered specialty and/or in Family Medicine. Note: For doctors with PCs which do not start on 1 Jan, their CME requirements will be adjusted accordingly. | |
PC Renewal for doctors holding a 1-year PC from 1 January 2025 | 25 CME points, of which 20% or 5 points shall be core points in each of their registered specialty and/or in Family Medicine; and 10% or 3 points shall be from Ethics core programmes. Note: For doctors with PCs which do not start on 1 Jan, their CME requirements will be adjusted accordingly. | |
* PC Renewal for doctors in Reduced Practice holding a 2-year lower-fee PC and on Lower CME requirements | 20 CME points | |
* PC Renewal for doctors in Reduced Practice holding a 1-year lower-fee PC and on Lower CME requirements | 10 CME points | |
(Before 1 January 2026) New PC / Resumption of Practice (for doctors who are already on SMC’s Register) | 50 CME points, of which 20% or 10 points shall be core points in each of their registered specialty and/or in Family Medicine. | 24 months prior to the PC application date |
(On or after 1 January 2026) New PC / Resumption of Practice (for doctors who are already on SMC’s Register) | 50 CME points, of which 20% or 10 points shall be core points in each of their registered specialty and/or in Family Medicine; and 10% or 5 points shall be from Ethics core programmes. | |
* Note: | ||
Mandatory Medical Ethics CME (MME CME)
Medical Ethics would be required for Practising Certificate (PC) renewal in 2026. Doctors can submit the required Mandatory Medical Ethics CME (MME CME) core points from 1 January 2024 for those whose PCs end on 31 December 2023 and from 1 January 2025 for those whose PCs end on 31 December 2024. Doctors who are renewing their PCs two yearly are required to have 5 ethics core points and those who wish to renew for one year are required to have 3 ethics core points. More information regarding MME CME can be found at AskGov.
CME core points requirements
Doctors registered as Specialists with SMC
Doctors who are accredited and registered as specialists in the following specialties / subspecialties will be required to fulfil core points in their respective specialties / subspecialties as indicated below.
Specialties
Anaesthesiology
Cardiology
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dermatology
Diagnostic Radiology
Emergency Medicine
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology
General Surgery
Geriatric Medicine
Haematology
Hand Surgery
Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine
Medical Oncology
Neurology
Neurosurgery
Nuclear Medicine
Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Occupational Medicine
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedic Surgery
Otorhinolaryngology / Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) Surgery
Paediatric Medicine
Paediatric Surgery
Pathology
Plastic Surgery
Psychiatry
Public Health
Radiation Oncology
Rehabilitation Medicine
Renal Medicine
Respiratory Medicine
Rheumatology
Urology
Subspecialties
Aviation Medicine
Intensive Care Medicine
Neonatology
Paediatric Cardiology
Paediatric Gastroenterology
Paediatric Haematology & Oncology
Paediatric Intensive Care
Paediatric Nephrology
Palliative Medicine
Sports Medicine
Doctors on the Family Physicians Register
Doctors who are accredited and registered as Family Physicians will be required to fulfil core points in Family Medicine
Doctors with multiple registrations
Doctors who are registered in 2 or more branches of medicine in the Register of Specialists and / or Register of Family Physicians have to obtain 20% of the requisite number of CME points in each of those branches of medicine.
e.g.
If the practitioner is registered in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, he must obtain at least 10 points from programmes in Internal Medicine and at least 10 points from programmes in Cardiology.
If the practitioner is registered in the specialty of Internal Medicine and in the Family Physicians Register, he must obtain at least 10 points from programmes in Internal Medicine and at least 10 points from programmes in Family Medicine.
Doctors on the Register of Medical Practitioners only
Doctors are required to fulfil core points in Family Medicine unless they are exempted from the core point requirements relevant to their field of practice. Please refer to the summary table Compulsory CME and Core Points Requirement [PDF, 44 KB] for more information on the core point requirement for specific groups of doctors.
Personal CME report
Doctors are advised to check their personal CME report regularly to monitor their CME point status for their current qualifying period. They can do so by logging into their CME account via the SMC Online System.
Doctors are encouraged to attend CME events well before the end of their CME qualifying period so that they can have their PC renewal applications processed in time and late PC application fees will not be incurred.