SMA: Profit guarantees prohibited under medical ethics guidelines
SMA responded to a Business Times media query and highlighted a SMA resolution published in 1998, stating that the financial imperative imposed by profit guarantees is incompatible with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) Physician Pledge and other ethical principles.
Section H3.1 of the 2016 SMC Handbook on Medical Ethics also mentions that doctors should be careful not to allow any financial arrangement that commits doctors to give a revenue or profit guarantee to a third party, as this may potentially influence how doctors manage their patients.
The article was published in the Business Times on 25 April 2017.
Access fee for SMJ online CME programme
Starting from the July 2017 issue of Singapore Medical Journal (SMJ), an access fee will be charged for participation in the SMJ online continuing medical education (CME) programme. SMA Members will be granted complimentary access as part of their membership benefits.
Please log in with your email and SMA password to access the SMJ CME programme. If you have not logged into your SMA Membership portal before, please email membership@sma.org.sg to activate your account and obtain your login details. For enquiries about the SMJ CME programme, please email smjcme@sma.org.sg.
Renewal of IDI-SMA MoU
On 14 March 2017, SMA representatives met with Ikatan Dokter Indonesia (IDI, or Indonesian Medical Association) representatives – Chairman Prof Ilham Oetama Marsis and Dr Ihsan Oetama – to renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) first signed in 2014. Members of our IDI-SMA Joint Committee also hosted a lunch with the IDI representatives.
Highlights from the MoU include:
- Members of our Associations should abide by the publicity guidelines of the other country when advertising their healthcare services there.
- Members of our Associations should not make unsubstantiated laudatory claims or insensitive remarks which undermine the professionalism of doctors in the other country.
- Before members of our Associations organise or participate in talks, workshops or other activities for the purpose of promoting or advertising their healthcare services in the other country, they should use their best endeavours to request for a formal invitation from the national medical association, medical specialty bodies or hospitals.
CME and membership activities on SMA website
Details of SMA's various CME and membership activities are available online at https://goo.gl/Im1HX2. Alternatively, visit https://www.sma.org.sg, and select "SMA Courses", followed by "Search Courses for Doctors".
2017 draft AGM minutes
The draft minutes of the 2017 SMA Annual General Meeting (AGM) was circulated via email to members on 3 May 2017, in accordance with Part 4 of Article XI of our SMA Constitution.
If you did not receive the email, or have queries relating to the 2017 AGM, please contact our SMA secretariat by email: szeyong@sma.org.sg or fax: 6224 7827.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank members who took time off to attend the AGM on 9 April 2017.