Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine

Application for GDFM Intake 2024 – 2026 has ended.

General Information

Introduction

The GDFM is a structured 24-months part-time training programme for doctors in Singapore. It is jointly organised by the College of Family Physicians Singapore (CFPS) and the Division of Graduate Medical Studies (DGMS), NUS Medicine.

Aims and Objective

GDFM aims to provide a comprehensive and structured training programme for doctors working in primary care so that they can practice Family Medicine at a competent level, catering to the healthcare needs of the child, the adolescent, the adult and the elderly.

Eligibility

Candidate must possess the following to be eligible to register for the GDFM programme:

A basic degree of the MBBS or equivalent qualification registered with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC)
Full or Conditional registration with the SMC; Temporary registered practitioners must support their applications with a letter of recommendation from their HOD. Provisional registration doctors are not eligible to apply.
Must have 1 full year ofworking experience in Singapore at point of course registration
Must hold a current and valid practicing certificate
Must have at least 20 active clinical hours per week

Course Overview

The programme is designed for practicing doctors who may have a busy work schedule. The distance learning components enable the learning of core knowledge and skills. Interaction with peers, tutors and expert resource persons are conducted via e-learning and face-to-face sessions, which are conducted outside regular office hours. The course is divided into 8 modules, each comprising of 2 learning units. Each module includes (conducted over the period of 3 months):

Reading materials for self-study (Downloadable from e-learning portal)
Multiple-choice assessments
4 interactive Saturday/Sunday afternoon seminars (2.5 hours in duration each)
1 tutorial for each module (2-3 hours in duration each)

In addition to the 8 modules, trainees must complete 3 GDFM-specific short courses, the GDFM Mock Exam and 2 elective Family Practice Skill Course. These are short courses conducted over weekends that cover specific areas in Family Medicine. College has newly added mini ITE to the training which will be conducted once every six months to help trainees prepare for the FM AKT Test.

Do note candidates are required to hold a valid BCLS competency certificate which is mandatory for examination applications with DGMS, NUS. Candidates must satisfy the BCLS requirements on their own.

The Joint Committee of Family Medicine Singapore (JCFMS) and the Family Physicians Accreditation Board (FPAB) would like to update on the following:

Prospective GDFM trainees are to note that they may not concurrently be residents in training in another programme.

18 Months of FM-Related Clinical Practice

This requirement and its implementation will be delayed and only apply to trainees entering training July 2028 onwards. Notwithstanding, all GDFM trainees are strongly encouraged to fulfil the 18-month FM-related clinical experience, including the 6-month primary care experience for clinical training and competence. Medical Officer Posting Exercise (MOPEX) trainees should refer to the list of FM-related clinical experience below and it is necessary for them to select the relevant MOPEX postings as first choice in order for MOHH to prioritise them for the postings.

Recognised FM-related clinical postings are:

Primary Care	Minimum 6 months, can be entire 18 months; or 8 hours per week in approved FM practice over 2 years (e.g. Polyclinics, GP clinics)
Recognise up to 6 months each for the listed postings:	Children’s emergency / Paediatric medicine Community Hospital Emergency medicine Geriatric medicine Home care Hospital Clinician Scheme (Emergency Medicine) Hospital Clinician Scheme (Internal Medicine) Internal medicine Palliative medicine
Recognise up to 3 months each for the listed postings:	General surgery Hospital Clinician Scheme (General Surgery) Nursing home care Obstetrics and Gynaecology Orthopaedics Psychiatry Rehabilitation medicine
Before graduation from programme and eligibility for exam (experience prior to GDFM training may be recognised, up to 5 years before graduation from programme)

Programme Details

FMTP Modular Courses (FMMC)

The FMTP Modular Course (FMMC) comprises 8 modules, each consisting of 4 workshops held over four weekend afternoons per quarter. The college has transitioned from case presentations by appointed trainees to OSCE training conducted by specialists and FM experts.

Training sessions will be conducted via Zoom for three workshops of each module. For one workshop, appointed trainees will participate in a live OSCE session at the College Academic Training Centre, with the session broadcast live over Zoom to the rest of the cohort.

Attendance of at least 3 out of the 4 workshops (i.e., minimum 75% attendance per module) is mandatory for certification of completion for each FMMC module. The eight modules are:

Module 1 - Respiratory Problems, ENT & Eye Problems
Module 2 - Child & Adolescent; Gastro-intestinal Problems
Module 3 - Chronic Disease Management. Haematology, Oncology & Palliative Care
Module 4 - Elder Care; Mental Health
Module 5 – Health Promotion & Disease Prevention; Skin Problems & STI
Module 6 - Work Related Health; Renal & Urological Problems. Endocrine Problems
Module 7 - Women's Health (Gynae); Emergent Problems & Acute Medicine
Module 8 - Women's Health (Obst); Neuro-muscular Disorders

GDFM Tutorials

The GDFM tutorials are conducted once per quarter (following the conclusion of the 4 workshops) focusing on the theme of the module for that particular quarter. Each trainee is assigned to a tutorial group comprising 10-15 trainees, mentored by 2-3 GDFM tutors. Trainees are responsible for coordinating with their respective tutors to schedule the tutorial at a mutually agreed location and time. Throughout the 2-year course, there are a total of 8 Face-To-Face tutorials, all of which are compulsory. Trainees must sign the tutorial attendance sheet to confirm their participation.

E-Learning & Mini ITE

Quarterly MCQ Assessment & 6-monthly Mini ITE

At the end of each FMMC module, trainees are required to log on to the e-learning website and complete the MCQ assessments on the module covered in the quarter. These MCQ assessments are compulsory.

College has newly added a 6-monthly mini ITE assessment into the training. The objective of this assessment is to help trainees prepare for the GDFM Part 1 examination (FM AKT Test) at the end of the 2-year training. These mock AKT assessments are compulsory.

GDFM Practice Management Courses (PMC)

The GDFM Practice Management Courses emphasise on basic clinical diagnostic and management skills essential to general practice and will be conducted in the two years. The 3 GDFM PMC courses are

1. Principle of Family Medicine & Practice Management Skills Course (P&P)
There are 6 units of study delivered through distance learning, e-Learning case scenarios and one afternoon session of workshop.

Unit 1: Principles of Family Practice (1)
Unit 2: Principles of Family Practice (2)
Unit 3: Managing the Practice
Unit 4: Computer Use & Literature Search
Unit 5: Financial Management
Unit 6: Practice Audit

2. Consultation, Communication & Counselling Skills Course (CCC)

There 6 units of study delivered through distance learning, e-Learning case scenarios and two afternoon sessions of workshops.

Unit 1: Communication in Clinical Practice
Unit 2: Counselling Skills
Unit 3: Behaviour Change
Unit 4: Counselling within the consultation
Unit 5: Counselling in specific situation
Unit 6: Speaking to children

3. Professionalism, Ethics & Law Skills Course (PEL)

There are 6 units of study delivered through distance learning, e-Learning case scenarios and three afternoon sessions of workshops.

Unit 1: Professionalism
Unit 2: Ethics
Unit 3: Medical Records & Confidentiality
Unit 4: Notification, Certification & dispensing
Unit 5: Practice Issues, Advertising, PHMC Act
Unit 6: Setting Up Practice

GDFM Mock Exam

The GDFM Mock Exam aims to prepare trainees for the GDFM examination and is divided into 3 parts

A. GDFM Exam Preparatory Briefing

2 hours briefing on 1 Saturday afternoon

B. GDFM Mock FM AKT Test (to be completed via the E-Learning portal)

180 Applied Knowledge Test (MCQ)

C. GDFM Mock OSCE

GDFM Mock OSCE is a F2F session conducted on a Saturday afternoon.
The session aims to simulate actual exam enviroment with a number of mock OSCE cases for trainees to practice.
There will be a feedback session at the end of the mock OSCE.

Family Practice Skills Course (FPSC) – Two Compulsory Elective

(Fees not included in GDFM programme fee)

Trainees may choose to do any TWO 2-afternoons Family Practice Skill Courses (FPSC) or FOUR 1-afternoon FPSC conducted by the College of Family Physicians Singapore to be counted as electives under the GDFM programme. Typically, each FPSC consists of:

2-Afternoons Family Practice Skills Courses:

Two seminars and two workshops
Online Assessment (MCQs) test which is based on the Singapore Family Physician Journal (SFP)
Reading papers: A selection of 10 papers will be presented. Course participants are advised to choose up to five for self-study.

1-Afternoon Family Practice Skills Courses:

1 seminar and 1 workshop
Online Assessment (MCQs) which is based on the Singapore Family Physicians Journal (SFP)
Reading Papers: A selection of 10 papers will be presented. Course participants are advised to choose up to five for self-study.

GDFM Examination

The examination is conducted by the Division of Graduate Medical Studies, NUS and successful candidates would be awarded the Graduate Diploma of Family Medicine (GDFM) by NUS. For information on the GDFM Examination, please refer to the DGMS website here.

Trainees are required to fulfil all training requirements and pass the GDFM examination to graduate from the programme.

Non-refundable Registration fees

S$ 218*

GDFM Course Fee Y2024

College Member:	S$ 10,895.22*
Non-College Member:	S$ 13,063.04*

* Non-refundable Registration fees and Course fees stated are inclusive of 9% GST. It is inclusive of the NEJM portal subscription and Mock Exam during the 2-year programme.

Exclusion of Fees

Programme fees does not include GDFM Actual Examination, Family Practice Skill Course (FPSC) Elective and Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) certification
Programme fees does not include re-attempts for the GDFM Mock Examination and re-subcription of the NEJM portal after the 2-year programme

Miscellaneous Fee

Miscellaneous fees refer to any non-compulsory fees which the students pay only when applicable. Such fees are normally collected by the Private Education Institution (PEI) when the need arises.

Miscellaneous Fee – Members

Purpose of Fee	Amount (with GST, if any) (S$)
Re-taking Mock examination (OSCE) – applicable from Y2026 onwards	$1087.20
Re-taking of GDFM Module (inclusive of workshops and tutorials) It is mandatory to subscribe to NEJM portal when retaking GDFM Module to redo the Modular MCQs.	$523.20 (per module) In addition, it is mandatory to subscribe to NEJM portal, to redo the modular MCQ
NEJM Portal Subscription For access to redo Modular MCQs For access to redo optional Mock FM AKT	$170 - $370 (Subscription of 6 months to 2 years)
Re-taking of Practice Management Courses (P&P, CCC & PEL) (inclusive of MCQs)	$468.70 to $577.70

Miscellaneous Fee – Non-Members

Purpose of Fee	Amount (with GST, if any) (S$)
Family Practice Skill Course (FPSC) Elective - (2 TWO DAYS OR 4 ONE-DAY FPSC)	$218.00 to $305.20
Re-taking Mock examination (OSCE) – applicable from Y2026 onwards	$1087.20
Re-taking of GDFM Module (inclusive of workshops and tutorials) It is mandatory to subscribe to NEJM portal when retaking GDFM Module to redo the Modular MCQs.	$523.20 (per module) In addition, it is mandatory to subscribe to NEJM portal, to redo the modular MCQ
NEJM Portal Subscription For access to redo Modular MCQs For access to redo optional Mock FM AKT	$170 - $370 (Subscription of 6 months to 2 years)
Re-taking of Practice Management Courses (P&P, CCC & PEL) (inclusive of MCQs)	$468.70 to $577.70

Miscellaneous fees may be subjected to change when applicable.

Refund Policy

Registration fee is non-refundable.

Registration Fees will not be refunded to unsuccessful candidates. Successful candidates will be required to sign a Student Contract between CFPS and the candidate and pay the Programme Fees.

There will be an 80% refund of programme fee if the written notice of withdrawal is received during the cooling-off period of seven (7) working days after the date that the Student Contract has been signed.

There will be no refund of programme fee if the written notice of withdrawal is received after the cooling-off period.

% of [the amount of fees paid for Course Fee]	If Student’s written notice of withdrawal is received:
80%	During the cooling-off period of seven (7) working days after the date that the Student Contract has been signed
0%	After the cooling-off period

Last updated on 4 April 2024