By Judith Tan

STARTING in May next year, graduating students from the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine can opt not to do a year of broad-based hospital training as housemen.

Instead, they can apply to start training in one of seven specialities - internal medicine, paediatrics, general surgery, preventive medicine, psychiatry, emergency medicine and pathology - at a medical institution, said Professor K. Satku, the Ministry of Health's (MOH) director of medical services yesterday.

'There will be 40 places available next year so the doctors would have to compete for them,' said Prof Satku at an MOH press conference.

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