Ethics and Professionalism Courses for Health Professionals in Singapore

The values behind every Singapore code overlap: honesty, respect for patients, competence, confidentiality and accountability. The wording, the examples and the risk areas do not. A doctor is measured against the SMC Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines, where "you must" marks a mandatory requirement and the Handbook on Medical Ethics explains good practice. A nurse is measured against the SNB Code for Nurses and Midwives, which in 2018 replaced three older documents. A pharmacist answers to the SPC Code of Ethics, a dentist or oral health therapist to the SDC Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines, and allied health professionals, optometrists and opticians to their own board's code of professional conduct.

A general ethics module can explain autonomy, beneficence and justice. It cannot show a pharmacist where professional independence ends when a retail target conflicts with a patient's interest, or show a physiotherapist how the AHPC's guidance on delegation to therapy support staff applies on a busy outpatient day. When a Complaints Committee reads a response, it asks which part of your code the complaint engages and whether you met it. Learning built on that code is easier to apply, and easier to write about in a reflection.

Each profession page sets out the two core courses, how they map to your board's code, how they relate to your CME or CPE cycle and which supporting courses matter most in your daily work.

• Doctors: Singapore Medical Council. The 2016 ECEG and Handbook, from self-treatment and medical certificates to advertising, aesthetic practice and telemedicine; 5 core ethics CME points now needed for a two-year practising certificate.
• Nurses and midwives: Singapore Nursing Board. The Code for Nurses and Midwives (2018), scope of practice and core competencies, and the separate APN practising certificate.
• Dentists and oral health therapists: Singapore Dental Council. The ECEG 2018 edition (effective 1 January 2019), fees and consent, and the mandatory Ethics Self-Assessment Exercise.
• Pharmacists: Singapore Pharmacy Council. The Code of Ethics (2015), the Guidelines for Registered Pharmacists and pharmacy-only supply.
• Optometrists and opticians: Optometrists and Opticians Board. The Code of Professional Conduct and Professional Practice Guidelines in clinical and retail settings.
• Allied health professionals: Allied Health Professions Council. The Code of Professional Conduct, supervised practice and delegation guidance, and charging rules for diagnostic radiographers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, radiation therapists and speech-language therapists.

Professionals outside these six groups, such as dietitians, podiatrists or psychologists (whose registration has been announced but is not yet in force), can still use the two cross-profession courses below, which explain the shared framework.

The codes use both ideas together, and boards rarely separate them. For learning purposes, we do.

Most professionals benefit from both. Good intentions without knowledge of the standards still lead to breaches, and knowing the rules without ethical reasoning leaves you stuck when a situation is not covered by any rule.

Ethics and professionalism concerns usually arise in a particular area of practice. These shared courses go deeper on the areas that most often lead to complaints across all six board groups.

Two boards now build ethics directly into renewal. For practising certificates renewed or issued from 2026, the SMC requires 5 core CME points in medical ethics for a two-year certificate, or 3 for a one-year certificate, within the overall 50 or 25 points. The SDC requires dentists and oral health therapists to complete its online Ethics Self-Assessment Exercise on the ECEG, with an 80% pass mark, in each qualifying period.

For routine learning

Start with the two core courses for your board group. Then add one shared course linked to a real gap, such as consent, confidentiality or record keeping, and write a short reflection on what you now do differently.

If you are new to practice in Singapore

Professionals who trained elsewhere often know the clinical work but not the Singapore codes, section 37, the PDPA or the Mental Capacity Act. Take your board's professional standards course first, then the ethics course, then Cultural Competence and Respectful Care for working across Singapore's languages and communities. None of this replaces any supervision or assessment your board requires as a condition of registration.

If a concern has been raised

Take advice first from your indemnity provider, your employer's medico-legal team or a lawyer. Then use the remediation courses page, which groups courses by type of concern, and our guide to board complaints and disciplinary inquiries. If a committee or board has ordered training, check that a course meets the terms of the order before you enrol.

If you lead a team

Clinic owners, nurse managers and heads of department often use one course across a team and then discuss the cases together. Each person still completes the assessment and reflection individually.

• Instant access after enrolment, on any device, at your own pace.
• About 3 hours of study for most courses; the optometry and allied health courses take about 2 hours.
• Short knowledge checks after each section, then a 20-question final assessment.
• Pass mark 80% (16 of 20); you can review the material and try again.
• A certificate of completion and a structured reflective account to keep with your learning records.
• S$125 for a 3-hour course, S$95 for a 2-hour course.

Pick your profession above, or begin with the cross-profession core set if you work across teams or are new to Singapore practice.