SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed Q&M Dental Group has opened Singapore's first private dentistry college offering graduate diploma studies in clinical dentistry, it said in a bourse filing on Thursday (Oct 17).

The Q&M College of Dentistry's two-year graduate diploma course in clinical dentistry comprises nine modules covering courses including patient management and ethics in dentistry, orthodontics and implant dentistry.

The college is located at City Square Mall, with classes for its first instake commencing on Oct 21, 2019. Its faculty will include 32 lecturers.

Apart from dentists in Singapore, the college will also potentially reach out to general practitioners in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and China.

In a separate initiative, Q&M committed to giving at least half a million Singapore dollars a year in scholarships to local bachelor of dental surgery students, starting with an initial group of nine students.

The scholarship will help National University of Singapore (NUS) dentistry students pay their dental school fees and will add to the group's future talent pool.

Depending on the grants received, the scholars will serve as dentists at Q&M for a minimum of two years.

In August 2019, the Singapore government announced plans to increase bursary amounts as part of an initiative to make tertiary education accessible across the population.

Larger university bursaries and financial awards from private corporations such as Q&M will give Singaporeans more opportunities to pursue higher education at a lower cost.

Separately, Q&M said it is one of the companies participating in Enterprise Singapore's Scale-up SG programme, where selected high-growth local companies are groomed for accelerated expansion.

Dr Ng Chin Siau, Q&M's chief executive officer said: "By creating a new generation of dentists who possess not just essential skills, but an added expertise in advanced surgical skills, we hope to revolutionise the landscape of dentistry in Singapore and make it a hub for dental health in the region, and perhaps even in the world."