Medical screening for pre-enlistees

What you need to know

Your son or ward will receive a letter from MINDEF to inform him to register for National Service (NS) on the OneNS web portal. When doing so, he will be required to make a medical screening appointment.
Medical screening will determine your son or ward’s medical fitness for NS. It will affect his Physical Employment Standard (PES) grade, basic training, and assigned vocation.
It is compulsory for your son or ward to attend his medical appointment at the Central Manpower Base (CMPB). If he fails to do so, he may be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 3 years, or both.
Parents and guardians are not required to attend the medical screening appointment at CMPB.
If your son or ward needs to have further investigations into his medical conditions, he may be scheduled to attend specialist appointments. MINDEF will pay for consultation and investigative fees only up to the point of diagnosis.
If no further medical review is needed, he can check his PES grade on the OneNS web portal within a month after medical screening.

What you need to do

Ensure your son or ward completes his Medical Screening Questionnaire (MSQ) with complete and correct information during the pre-enlistment documentation process on the OneNS web portal.
Make sure he gets his MSQ endorsed by his nominated parent or guardian before his medical screening appointment.
Make sure your son or ward brings the necessary identification and medical documents to his medical screening appointment.

Medical screening process

Your son or ward will book his medical screening appointment on the OneNS web portal. The medical screening will take about 5 hours and will be conducted at the Central Manpower Base (CMPB). He will only be allowed to reschedule his appointment up till 3 days before the appointment, and he must schedule his appointment within the period made available to him. He will perform the following on the day of his medical screening appointment:

1. Photo studio

Photo-taking for identity documentation.

2. E-fitting

Measurements to ensure your son or ward gets the right fit for his uniforms and gear.

3. Medical screening

This part will take up around 2.5 hours, and will involve these 6 stations:

Clinical Laboratory station – blood samples and urine tests
Dental station – oral examination and dental X-ray
Ear, nose, and throat station – audio tests to examine hearing issues
Eye station – eye tests to examine abnormalities, visual, and refractive errors
X-ray station – chest x-ray to assess heart and lungs
Clinical examination station – height, weight, blood pressure, and Electrocardiogram (ECG)

4. Psychometric test

The psychometric test will take about 1.5 hours and will assess your son or ward’s aptitude to determine the appropriate vocation or appointments for him during full-time NS. The test assesses abilities in areas such as:

Reasoning
Technical skills
Mental-spatial skills

This test is not graded, so your son or ward does not need to stress or worry about getting a perfect score. If he has any questions during the test, there will be staff present to help him. Coming to the test with a fresh mind will help him do his best. Before the medical screening, it's important for him to get a good night's sleep.

After medical screening

If your son or ward requires additional medical investigations before his medical fitness can be assessed, he will be assigned Physical Employment Standard (PES) D and undergo a medical review. During this period of medical review, he may be scheduled for specialist appointments at hospitals and may need to provide more medical documents. These are important to determine your son or ward’s medical fitness and ensure his safety during National Service (NS).

MINDEF will pay for consultation and investigative fees only up to the point of diagnosis at public hospitals. Do note that the expenses for treatment and prescribed medication after the diagnosis will not be covered and will need to be paid for by your son or ward.

If no further medical review is needed, he will be assigned his PES grade within a month after medical screening. He may check his final PES grade on the OneNS web portal.

Your son or ward may be asked to attend another medical screening appointment to reassess his medical fitness if it has been some time since his PES grade was assigned, for instance, if he was granted deferment for full-time studies after obtaining a PES grade.

Visit the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) website for more information on medical screening