Response to The Straits Times Forum Letter on "MINDEF should spell out NS deferment criteria"

MINDEF: Disruption for Medical course applied uniformly

We refer to Ms Lim Guay Cheng's letter titled 'MINDEF should spell out NS deferment criteria'.

MINDEF grants disruption for full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) to obtain their medical degrees, as the SAF has operational needs for doctors. This is a long standing policy and uniformly applied for all servicemen who meet the criteria. They are disrupted just before their university term begins and serve out their remaining NS liabilities soon after completion of their medical course. Currently about 120 NSFs are disrupted every year to study medicine locally.

Prior to 1992, disruptions were also allowed for NSFs to obtain medical degrees in approved overseas universities. Our records show that 86 such disruptions have been granted.  The length of disruption varied depending on the time taken to complete the medical studies. This was about five to six years for medical courses in countries such as the UK and Australia. Longer periods were granted for those admitted to US universities where medicine is a graduate course. Medical students there are required to complete a pre-medical component for a general undergraduate degree before being accepted for the Doctor of Medicine course proper. Upon their return to the SAF, medical graduates are deployed according to the needs of the SAF and the qualifications of the NSF. From 1992, MINDEF stopped disruption for overseas medical studies as SAF's needs for doctors could be fully met by local graduates. 

While we disrupt all NSFs who qualify to obtain medical degrees to serve SAF’s needs as doctors, MINDEF also allows deferment of individuals with exceptional talents to pursue their own fields of interest before they enlist. However, such deferments are decided on the merits of each case and have been rarely approved.

We thank Ms Lim for the opportunity to clarify our policy of disruption and deferment for NSFs.

Colonel Desmond Tan
Director, Public Affairs
Ministry of Defence
 
MINDEF's reply was published as "Mindef: Disruption for medical course applied uniformly", The Straits Times, 06 Aug 11