Starting from August 2013, students who wish to become audiologists no longer need to travel abroad to study. National University of Singapore (NUS) will be delivering a two-year full-time master's degree in audiology, a first in Singapore.
With Singapore's greying population, more citizens are suffering from some form of hearing impairment. There are currently only 60 overseas-trained audiologists in the public and private sectors in Singapore. With the introduction of this new programme, it will help to grow the audiologist manpower pool, in a more tailored approach where graduates will also be more familiar with the local healthcare ecosystem.
This course is open to working adults and fresh undergraduates with a good bachelor's degree, preferably in allied health sciences. The course fee of S$70,000 (approximately £35,000) is significantly higher than other taught masters in Singapore. However, scholarships are available from Ministry of Health and Singapore Workforce Development Agency. Nine scholarships have been given out to the first batch of 18 students who started in August.