FAQs (HoPE)

There is demand for trained Healthcare professionals in hospices, nursing homes, patient’s home and hospitals.

These are the module leads for MD6101, MD6102 and MD6103 respectively. 

Dr Poi Choo Hwee
Senior Consultant
Dept of Palliative Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital

Assoc Prof Ho Hau Yan Andy
Associate Professor
School of Social Sciences (SSS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 

Dr Chia Siew Chin
Senior Consultant
Dept of Palliative Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital

You may refer to the list of faculty when the programme schedule is released.

Our curriculum is designed with a broad focus on enhancing the skills and knowledge of healthcare workers, including medical doctors, in palliative care practices. Our programme is currently focused on delivering a high-quality education and a curriculum that is relevant to our local culture and context. We'll continue to evaluate recognition opportunities in the future.

The Graduate Certificate and FlexiMasters in Holistic Palliative Care (HoPE) Programme is funded up to a maximum of 70% for Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident aged below 40 years old, and funded up to a maximum of 90% for Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident aged 40 years old and above by the SkillsFuture SG. 

The Master of Science degree in Holistic Palliative Care is not subsidised.

Graduate Certificate (GC) in Holistic Palliative Care

Total Tuition Fee for the three courses:
-        Before SkillsFuture SG funding: $9,000 (before 9% GST)
-        Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged below 40 years old: $2,943 (with 9% GST)
-        Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged 40 years old and above: $1,143 (with 9% GST)

FlexiMasters (FM) in Holistic Palliative Care

Total Tuition Fee for the three courses:
-        Before SkillsFuture SG funding: $6,000 (before 9% GST)
-        Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged below 40 years old: $1,962 (with 9% GST)
-        Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged 40 years old and above: $762 (with 9% GST)

Master of Science degree in Holistic Palliative Care

Tuition Fee:
-        $15,000 (before 9% GST). This fee doesn’t include the fees for GC and FM.

Students are required to make tuition fee payment on a modular basis.

Course fee is based on the course start date of each individual course. E.g. if you turn 40 in 2025 and the first two courses start date is in 2024 and third course in 2025, then you will be paying tuition fee under the “Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged below 40 years old” for the first two courses and “Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged 40 years old and above” for the final course.

There is no application fee for the Graduate Certificate and FlexiMasters in HoPE programme.

Diploma or professional registration.

All applications will be considered holistically and the outcome will be relayed accordingly. You may submit your advanced degree certificate and transcript and/or information on the relevant experiences as your supporting documents for our consideration.

You may submit your application via the single sign-up for both Graduate Certificate and FlexiMasters here.

You may submit multiple supporting documents during the online application. For any submission of supporting documents after successful online application, please email to [email protected]. The supporting documents have to be submitted before the application deadline. Please refer to the following list of supporting documents.

a. NRIC, Citizenship Certificate or Passport (for foreigners)

b. Diploma/Degree transcripts

- Official translation in English (if not in English)

- Original Language

c. Diploma/Degree certificates

- Official translation in English (if not in English)

- Original Language

The application outcome will be released progressively from July onwards for each intake.

Students are required to successfully complete a minimum of 9 AUs of specific courses and achieve a minimum GPA 2.5 from each considered course to be awarded a Graduate Certificate in Holistic Palliative Care before they are deemed to be eligible to progress to the FlexiMasters in Holistic Palliative Care.

HoPE programme is a stackable postgraduate programme, leading sequentially to a Graduate Certificate, FlexiMasters and a Master of Science (MSc) degree in HoPE.

Graduate Certificate - Students who successfully completed a minimum of 9 AUs of specific courses and achieved a minimum GPA 2.5 from each considered course will be awarded a Graduate Certificate in Holistic Palliative Care.

FlexiMasters - Students who successfully completed 15 AUs of specific courses (including 9 AUs from Graduate Certificate) and achieve a minimum GPA 2.5 from each considered course will be awarded a FlexiMasters in Holistic Palliative Care.

Masters - Eligible students who have successfully accumulated a total of 30 AU (9 AU from Graduate Certificate, 6 AU from FlexiMasters and 15 AU from MSc) will be conferred the Master of Science degree in Holistic Palliative Care.

The HoPE programme allows students to exit after being awarded the Graduate Certificate without completing the FlexiMasters. Similarly, after being awarded the FlexiMasters.

No, it is a stackable qualification and compulsory learning pathway from Graduate Certificate to FlexiMasters to MSc degree in HoPE.

FlexiMasters is an innovative and flexible continuing education training (CET) initiative which allows working adults to upskill through modular courses that can be stacked towards a micro-credential and, where appropriate, credit transfer to a full Master’s degree. 

Upon completing the FlexiMasters courses, you would have accumulated 15 AUs including those from the Graduate Certificate. The MSc consist of additional 15 AUs including clinical attachment. The following is a brief description of the programme.

Graduate Certificate in Holistic Palliative Care – 9 AU

-        Foundations of Palliative Medicine (3 AU)
-        Foundations of Psychosocial Care and Thanatology (3 AU)
-        Foundations of Palliative Care in Practice (3 AU)

Flexi Masters in Holistic Palliative Care – 6 AU

-        Advanced Palliative Medicine (2 AU)
-        Advanced Psychosocial Care and Thanatology (2 AU)
-        Advanced Palliative Care in Practice (2 AU)

Master of Science degree in Holistic Palliative Care – 15 AU

-        Research in Palliative Care (3 AU)
-        Paediatric Palliative Care (3 AU)
-        Communications in Palliative Care (3 AU)
-        Economics of Care in Palliative Medicine + Global Palliative Care + Management and Leadership (3 AU)
-        Clinical attachment (40 hours, 3 AU) – MD6008 Clinical attachment is a compulsory module for all students. We recognize that many of our students are already engaged in meaningful work within the palliative care sector. As such, if you are currently engaged in clinical work within palliative care, you have the option to apply for your current work experiences to be recognised towards fulfilling part of the requirements for the clinical attachment module. You must clearly show how your current job responsibilities meet the learning objectives of the module. You also have the option to complete your clinical attachment at another approved location or through a combination of your current job and an external placement. Regardless of the path you choose, the submission of a final report is mandatory. All applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and subject to prevailing guidelines.

The minimum and maximum duration of completion for the entire pathway of the programme is 3.5 years and 7 years respectively. The following is the breakdown of the duration for each sub-programme.

Graduate Certificate in Holistic Palliative Care

Minimum duration of completion – 1 year
Maximum duration of completion – 2 years

FlexiMasters in Holistic Palliative Care

Minimum duration of completion – 1 year
Maximum duration of completion – 2 years

Master of Science degree in Holistic Palliative Care

Minimum duration of completion – 1.5 years
Maximum duration of completion – 3 years

There is no module exemption for Graduate Certificate and FlexiMasters modules. Credit transfers for MSc modules are by application only and will be assessed and approved by the University. Credit Transfer is subject to prevailing University Credit Transfer Policy.

There are 13 weeks per module, i.e. 12 teaching weeks and a week for final assessment. The pre-recorded lectures are available on the e-learning platform where learners can access the materials at their own pace and tutorials conducted either online or onsite during weekdays office hours. The pre-recorded lectures are about 24 hours, online tutorials are about 8 hours and onsite tutorials are about 8 hours in total.

There will be mid-term and final assessments and it varies across different modules according to the nature of the modules. There will be MCQ, discussions and essays for the assessments.

All students are expected to attend all online and onsite sessions. Failure to do so will result in not being eligible to sit for the final assessment.

MD6008 Clinical attachment is a compulsory module for all students. We recognize that many of our students are already engaged in meaningful work within the palliative care sector. As such, if you are currently engaged in clinical work within palliative care, you have the option to apply for your current work experiences to be recognised towards fulfilling part of the requirements for the clinical attachment module. You must clearly show how your current job responsibilities meet the learning objectives of the module. You also have the option to complete your clinical attachment at another approved location or through a combination of your current job and an external placement. Regardless of the path you choose, the submission of a final report is mandatory. All applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and subject to prevailing guidelines.

For course enquiries, please email us at [email protected]

For enquiries on registration and funding, please submit your enquiry here.