> Singapore Psychological Society <

(II) Process of Registration

Qualified psychologists who wish to register for the first time must submit the relevant application documents. The completed Application Forms must be submitted with the supporting documents (i.e., one copy of NRIC or passport with personal particulars, one passport sized photo, one copy of transcripts and credentials and two Character References) and total application fees of S$100 for the current calendar year. The subsequent annual renewal fees are S$60. These fees are separate from SPS Membership fees and are payable to the Singapore Psychological Society. Certified true copies of all transcripts and credentials are required, and the original copies may also be required for further verification. Prior to obtaining an official approval from the Singapore Psychological Society, applicants must refrain from using the title of a 'Registered Psychologist (Singapore)'. Notifications of registrations are sent to the successful applicants by post and include the Certificates of Registration (suitable for framing and display at the place of professional practice), registration numbers and effective periods of the registrations. This title (along with the Registration number) may be printed on name cards and other means of professional identification.

(3) Standards Development and Professional Development Policy

Singapore Register of Psychologists - Standards Development

Upgrading the requirements to become a Registered Psychologist in Singapore

When the SRP was first formed at the end of December 2001, the standards which were set to qualify for registration were appropriate to the developmental stage of the profession of psychology in Singapore at that time. As the profession matures, these standards will be revisited.

Initial registration requirements in Singapore consisted of a Masters or Doctoral degree in Applied Psychology, full membership of SPS and evidence of 800 hours of supervised experience, of which 240 hours had to involve face to face client contact (60%), 80 hours had to involve supervision including at least 40 hours of individual (one-to-one) supervision (20%) and 80 hours could have consisted of other activities (e.g., psychological report writing) (20%).

Over time these qualification standards will be gradually lifted. In 2006 we moved to require an increase in the current practicum requirements from 400 to 600 hours, and it is proposed that further increases to 800 hours and eventually to 1000 hours will occur in the future. Future SRP committees may consider further increasing the requirements to 800 hours from January 2008 and to 1000 hours from January 2010.

The Australian Psychological Society requirements are for 1000 hours of which 400 must be face to face with clients or patients (40%), 200 hours must involve supervision (30%) and the remaining 400 hours (30%) can be used for other activities including report writing. These standards can be considered as an appropriate international benchmark.

Table 1: Suggested revisions to the registration hourly requirements.

	Previous requirements	2006 requirements	2008	2010 proposed
Total hours	400	600	800	1000
Client contact	240 (60%)	300 (50%)	360 (45%)	400 (40%)
Supervision	80 (20%)	120 (20%)	160 (20%)	200 (30%)
Other	80 (20%)	180 (30%)	280 (35%)	400 (40%)

Qualification requirements for supervisors

Maturation of the society has resulted in evolving standards concerning supervision. Some years ago psychology masters students were able to be supervised by non psychologists (people such as social workers/ psychiatrists, family therapists, etc.). These requirements were subsequently upgraded so that supervisors had to be Registered Psychologists or eligible to be registered psychologists. This means that some people who were well trained and might, for example, be a Chartered Psychologist in the UK or a licensed psychologist in the US or a College member in Australia were eligible to supervise even though they were not registered in Singapore.

From January 2006 all people who wish to supervise trainee psychologists toward registration in Singapore are required to themselves be Registered Psychologists in Singapore.

Professional Development scheme

The initial continuing education policy was that SRP members were “encouraged” to accumulate “the equivalent of eight hours of continuing education per year” (SRP Application Information (V)).

The maturation of the Society meant that it became timely to introduce more stringent PD requirements here. An extraordinary meeting was held on December 7th 2004 to review the Professional Development (PD) policy of the SRP. The new PD policy (dated from the 2005 AGM) states that:

Continued Registration as a Psychologist will require 60 hours of PD activity per cycle (a cycle is 2 years so this means 30 hours per year average)

There are 3 categories of PD activity and the PD hours must include hours from at least 2 of these 3 categories per cycle.

Self regulation

The PD system will initially be largely self-regulated. Registered Psychologists will be expected to keep an organized record of PD activities completed in a logbook (see template below).

§ Registered Psychologists will be required to maintain a summary sheet of their PD activities.

§ At the end of a PD cycle (a cycle will consist of 2 years, the start date is from March 2005) Registered Psychologists may be asked to provide evidence of their PD activities as a condition of continued registration. Initially this will likely consist of a random audit of sample of psychologists.

As our procedures develop we will move to a system where Registered Psychologists will have to submit records of their PD activities on a summary sheet at the end of each 2 year cycle.

Failure to complete the required PD hours in a cycle will result in a Registered Psychologist moving to a Conditional Registration category until the deficit is rectified.

Table 2. Professional development points and categories (points must be accumulated from at least 2 of the 3 categories listed).

Category 1 PD recipient
Workshop	1 pt per hour	e.g., a 2 day workshop (14 hours) would be worth 14 points
Professional Courses	1 pt per hour	e.g., individual unit
Conference	1 pt per hour	Working on 7 hours per day
Symposia/Lecture/Seminar	1 pt per hour
Relevant Postgraduate Studies in Psychology	30 points per year	Includes MPsych, DPsych/PhD; applies to both full time and part time
Overseas conferences and seminars	1 pt per hour
Supervision (supervisee only)	1 pt per hour	Includes individual, group and peer and must be documented, evaluated and developmental in nature

Category 2 PD recipient
Video and Audio resources	1 pt per record	Must include a documented record of professional relevance
Internet-based learning	1 pt per record	Must include a documented record of professional relevance
Journal Club	1 pt per record	Must include a documented record of professional relevance
Reading	1 pt per record	Must include a documented record of professional relevance

Category 3 PD provider

Teaching, lectures, seminars, workshops (for presenters)	1 pt per hour	Only applies for the first time presenting Only applies to lectures that are outside the normal working role
Conference/Poster presentation	5 points per presentation
Publications	10 points per publication	For refereed original publication
Research Successful grant application	5 points per grant application	Applies to chief investigator of peer reviewed competitive grants