Conditional registration (C-Reg)

Overview

Conditional registration applies to Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) who have less than 1 year of professional practice experience at registration commencement date or have no prior professional practice experience in Singapore. Conditional registration requires an AHP to complete a period of supervised practice in an establishment/with an employer whose supervision systems and structures comply with the Allied Health Professions Council (AHPC)'s prevailing supervised practice guidelines.

Eligibility requirements (with experience in Singapore)

For AHPs who were already practising in their profession in Singapore before the commencement date for the respective professions, they will be granted full or restricted registration after they have completed 12 months of supervised practice as stipulated by the AHPC (which can be within the grace period) with no adverse supervisor reports or client complaints.

Otherwise they will be granted conditional registration to complete the stipulated period of supervised practice.

Criteria for conditional registration (Pathway to full registration)

1. A basic/primary professional qualification that is found on the list of recognised qualifications; OR passed the relevant Qualifying Examination (QE); OR

2. A basic/primary professional qualification which was previously allowed by MOH as part of the work pass application; AND

3. With less than 1 year of professional practice experience in Singapore (e.g. as a Diagnostic Radiographer or an Occupational Therapist) as at the commencement date AND

4. Currently employed to practice his profession in Singapore

Criteria for conditional registration (Pathway to restricted registration)

1. A basic/primary professional qualification that is not found on the list of recognised qualifications or did not take or did not pass the relevant QE; OR

2. A basic/primary professional qualification which was not previously allowed by MOH as part of the work pass application; AND

3. Less than 1 year of professional practice experience in Singapore (e.g. as a Diagnostic Radiographer or an Occupational Therapist) as at the commencement date; AND

4. Currently employed to practice his profession in Singapore

Eligibility requirements (with no experience in Singapore)

For AHPs who have no prior professional practice experience in Singapore will be placed on conditional registration.

Criteria for registration

1. Have a basic/primary professional qualification that is found on the list of recognised qualifications; OR passed the relevant Qualifying Examination (QE); AND

2. Have an offer of employment from an employer/establishment that is able to provide supervision as stipulated by the AHPC

Employment of AHPs on conditional registration

For AHPs with no prior professional practice experience in Singapore seeking employment

Applicants are advised to familiarise themselves with the documents listed below in making a decision on offers of employment as an AHP in Singapore. The application for registration may be rejected in the event that the prospective employer/establishment is unable to comply with the requirements set out in the said Guidelines.

1. For Diagnostic Radiographers and Radiation Therapists [PDF, 147 KB]

2. For Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist and Speech-Language Therapist [PDF, 254 KB]

During the conditional registration period, the registered AHPs must notify the AHPC of any changes related to their employment, place of practice or supervisor(s) at least one month before the date of the intended change. The changes may not be supported if they do not meet the supervision requirements set out in the Guidelines. Further information on the procedure for notifying the AHPC of such changes is found in Readiness Review.

For employers/establishments that wish to employ AHPs with no prior professional practice experience in Singapore

All organisations must comply with the requirements set out in the AHPC’s Supervised Practice Guidelines for the respective profession groups if they wish to employ AHPs with no prior professional practice experience in Singapore as they will only be eligible under conditional registration.

Readiness Review

Please refer to Readiness Review. Organisations that have not completed the Readiness Review of their supervision systems and structures with the AHPC will have to complete the review if the application for registration of new hires for conditional or temporary registration is to be submitted.  For organisations that have not successfully completed the Readiness Review, the processing of their new hires may not be possible.

Organisations which have already completed the Readiness Review with the AHPC will need to demonstrate that the shortfalls identified (if any) during the review are rectified at the time of employment of new entrants.

The new hires’ registration application will not be processed if the prospective employer/establishment is unable to meet the requirements set out in the Guidelines satisfactorily.

Supervised practice period for conditional registrants

The purpose of supervised practice under conditional registration is two-fold. Firstly, it is intended to support AHPs’ assimilation and familiarisation with the local health and social care system and practices. Secondly, it allows for the performance assessment of AHPs to determine if they had met the standards expected of fully registered AHPs practising in Singapore.

The typical duration of the supervised practice period imposed for an AHP trained in Singapore or a Singaporean is 12 months of full-time practice while the supervised practice period imposed for a foreign-trained AHP is 18 months of full-time practice.

The supervised practice period may be extended in the event of adverse supervision reports, or leave of absences of more than 1 month.

The list of recognised qualifications for Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech-Language therapy have been updated in June 2016 to include Graduate Entry Masters (GEM) qualifications from a number of universities.  Holders of these GEM qualifications would be required to undergo a period of 24 months of full-time supervised practice, with the final 12 months under Level 2 supervision intensity.   

Part-time practice during conditional registration

Part-time practice during conditional registration is allowed.  However, the duration of the supervised practice will be extended by 12 months, and the registrant is required to maintain a minimum of 20 hours of practice per week to meet the conditions of registration. The minimum hours of practice per week ensures that the purposes of the supervised practice under conditional registration are met adequately.

An AHP on conditional registration may apply for part-time practice at the point of registration application or any time during his/her supervised practice period, and the supervised practice period will be adjusted accordingly.

AHPC follows the Ministry of Manpower's guidelines regarding full-time working hours. For more information, please refer to the Ministry of Manpower's website.

Practising Certificate period while on conditional registration

All AHPs on conditional registration are required to apply for a 2-year Practising Certificate (PC) while practising on conditional registration.  The amount payable would be SGD300 including application fee of SGD20.