Should I apply for overseas registration?

Early this year in January, the Ministry of Health in Singapore (MOH) has identified the guy who has leaked Singapore’s HIV registry. This guy who has leaked the Singapore’s HIV registry has managed to forge his master’s degree certificate in developmental and child psychology (CNA; "HIV data leak: What we know about Mikhy Farrera Brochez"). During his work in Singapore, he has received multiple awards and recognition for teaching excellence and has published articles in scientific journals and books on child psychology. He has also represented Singapore at international conferences for academia and research.

This incident led to a few concerns in Singapore. The two main concerns for the world of psychology are:

1. How many people out there are practicing without authentic licensing/registration?
2. What impact would an individual, without any qualification and training in psychology, have on the vulnerable group of students, young patients and their families? 

However, as this profession of psychologists in Singapore is yet to be mandatory regulated and registration is solely voluntary with the Singapore Register of Psychologist (SRP), it is difficult for us to find out an answer for above concerns. Perhaps compulsory registration for psychologists in Singapore could be our answer in the near future?

As psychologists, we are responsible to assist our clients establishing new ways of behaving or overcoming challenges through scientific assessments, and educating them with prevention and intervention measures. Any advice that is given is bound to create certain impact on the lives of many. Hence, it is also crucial that psychologists are trained in a proper way to provide the most ethical and appropriate services to the clients.

As mentioned before, as the registration in Singapore is voluntary, with major of practicing psychologists in Singapore been trained overseas. A good question for those who trained overseas would be:

Should I apply for overseas registration in the country the training was done?

To register as a Psychologist in Singapore with SRP, the first criteria is one must have a postgraduate degree in applied psychology, on top of being a SPS member. The next qualifying criteria is to fulfil the SRP’s practicum requirements. However, there is an alternative criteria one can use which is:

A psychologist licensed to practice as a professional psychologist in: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States of America. (SRP registration criteria)

Technically if you qualify and have registration in the above countries, you will definitely be able to register in Singapore, as some overseas registration requires the psychologists to either be tested on their academic abilities and ethics, achieve the required internship or practicum requirements or acquire a specialised license if they wish to work with children or those with special needs.

If we are only practising in Singapore and not overseas, why would one want to hold registration in both countries?

Other than smoothening the process to be registered with SRP, it probably increases your credibility on the resume as well.  With dual registration, it would mean that you are able to practice in both countries, which also means more job opportunities and exposure to clients of different cultures. However, it also meant that you will have to pay more due to holding two registrations.
Regardless of holding one or two registrations, the action of having registration is very important as an ethical psychologist, as this ensures that we are doing the right thing by our clients. Also, let’s hope that Singapore has mandatory registration for all psychologists soon!