KUALA LUMPUR, August 5 — More than one in four Universiti Malaya (UM) medical graduates since 2018 holds active registration in Singapore as of June 30, 2026.
As of that date, 314 out of 1,162 UM medical graduates included in this analysis held active Singapore Medical Council (SMC) registration. Of these, 133 graduates registered with SMC after obtaining their full Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) registration number, with 50 per cent doing so within one year.
The observed sequence suggests two potential migration points to Singapore among UM graduates: immediately after graduation and following completion of Malaysian housemanship.
My study was a public record linkage exercise that matched UM official convocation records from 2018 to 2025 against the MMC Medical Register Information and Technical System (MeRITS) and the SMC Professional Registration System (PRS).
Findings
In this public register linkage analysis, active SMC registration was regarded as a potential surrogate marker for graduate migration to Singapore.
A total of 314 of 1,162 UM medical graduates between 2018 and 2025, or 27.0 per cent, had active registration with SMC as of June 30, 2026.
A total of 15.4 per cent of these graduates had active SMC register listing without identifiable MMC registration. This is consistent with direct entry to Singapore’s medical workforce without entering Malaysian medical registration pathway after graduation.
These cases were concentrated mostly in the more recent cohorts. Among graduates from 2018 to 2022, only five had an active SMC registration without an identifiable MMC footprint.
In comparison, 28.5 per cent, or 174 out of the 611 graduates between 2023 and 2025, were identified in the SMC register without MMC register footprint as of June 30, 2026. This is approximately the size of a whole UM graduate cohort.
Older cohorts were predominantly identified in the MMC-only and dual-registration groups, while the 2023-2025 cohorts contained larger SMC-only groups. The SMC-only proportion increased markedly among the recent cohorts, reaching 32.6 per cent in 2023, 26.5 per cent in 2024, and 28.5 per cent in 2025.
MMC-only registration accounted for approximately 68 to 82 per cent of the 2018-2022 cohorts, compared with approximately 54 to 57 per cent of the 2023-2025 cohorts.
Note that the “not found” proportion is higher in the 2024 and 2025 cohorts. This may be due to delayed registration or updates into either MMC or SMC registers, or other pathways not captured by these data. Underlying reasons cannot be determined.
About 11.6 per cent of all graduates were identified in both MMC and SMC registers. About 98.5 per cent of these 135 graduates had obtained permanent registration in MMC prior to SMC registration date.
It is thus reasonable to deduce from the sequence that the potential migration to Singapore occurs after completion of housemanship training in Malaysia. This group accounts for more than one in 10 of all UM graduates included in this analysis.
About 50.4 per cent registered with SMC within one year of permanent MMC registration, 27.8 per cent between one and two years later, and 21.8 per cent after two years. Recent cohorts have had less follow-up time to accumulate later registrations.
This pattern may still be evolving, especially among the 2023 batch, many of whom completed housemanship training within the past year. This is on top of the relatively higher percentage of graduates already identified only in the SMC register.
Historical data shows that among graduates identified in both registers, 50.4 per cent of SMC registrations occurred within one year of permanent MMC registration date, 27.8 per cent between one and two years, and 21.8 per cent after two years of permanent registration date.
Methodology
For this data, individual-level graduate lists were obtained from official Convocation Books (58th – 65th Ceremony) published online by Universiti Malaya. The names were then used to cross-link against the MMC Medical Register Information and Technical System (MeRITS) and the SMC Professional Registration System (PRS) via the Professional Search function.
Index date was set to June 30, 2026. Data was collected between July 1 and July 15, 2026. Registrations dated after the index date were excluded from this exercise.
It is important to note that the MMC register displays all historical registration records on its medical register, while SMC only lists currently active registration.
Exact matches and limited name variations (such as omission of patronymics or spacing variants) were used for my search. To confirm the match in the two registries, the names from the list required concordant supporting information such as accurate university listed in registry, matching graduation year, and appropriate provisional and full registration date ranges among the cohort.
Commentary
Recent on-the-ground sources suggest that some graduates from the 2024 batch, who are obtaining, or obtained, permanent registration in 2026, had attended interviews and received employment offers to work in Singapore before receiving their medical officer placements in Malaysia.
This is not dissimilar to the active recruitment pattern among UM medical students receiving employment offers before graduation.
There are also indications that the number of medical graduates offered placements in Singapore may decrease in the next graduating cohort.
This is on top of recent engagement efforts by the Public Service Department (JPA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), including briefings and conditional employment offers to our upcoming graduates.
These developments may result in more medical graduates serving in Malaysia these coming years, but it is crucial to note that from the historical pattern, there may be a second wave of potential migration after housemanship completion.
Precautionary retention efforts should also be directed to address the post-housemanship period.
The absence of unique identifiers, such as identification card numbers, to definitively confirm the accuracy of record linkage is a clear limitation of this analysis.
Nevertheless, the methodology provides reasonable confidence that the patterns identified through this exercise are robust and actionable.
Replication of this study by official bodies utilising authoritative administrative sources and more reliable linkage features would substantially improve the quality and completeness of this analysis.
On June 23, 2026, Raub MP Chow Yu Hui asked the health minister in Parliament for statistics on the number of medical graduates from Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), who had migrated or been recruited to work as medical doctors in Singapore between 2022 and 2025. No figures were provided.
It is hoped that this analysis may serve as the first step towards shedding light on that question.
Dr Khairul Ameen Mohamad Sabri is a house officer in the MOH. His article was edited by CodeBlue editor-in-chief Boo Su-Lyn.
Sources:
- Universiti Malaya Official Convocation E-Book.
- Malaysian Medical Council Medical Register Information and Technical System (MeRITS).
- Singapore Medical Council Professional Registration System Professional Search Function.
- Parlimen Malaysia (2026, June 23). Jawapan-Jawapan Bagi Pertanyaan-Pertanyaan Jawab Lisan Yang Tidak Dijawab Di Dalam Dewan – Soalan 26. Mesyuarat Kedua, Penggal Kelima Parlimen Kelima Belas 2026.
