Training and Qualifications
Dr. Chan obtained her medical degree from the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Subsequently, Dr. Chan completed both basic and advanced specialty training in general surgery at the Singapore General Hospital, and exited from the programme in 2007.
She has been a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow since 1999.
In the midst of her surgery training, Dr. Chan received an NMRC Totalisator Board Scholarship where she completed her PhD in Neuroendocrinology at the University of Bristol in 2004.
Awarded the HMDP Award and Skills Attachment Award
In 2008, Dr. Chan received the Health Manpower Development Program (HMDP) Award as an oncoplastic Breast Fellow in Nottingham Breast Institute, UK.
She is trained in the procedures of therapeutic mammoplasty, latissimus dorsi flap for partial and total breast reconstruction, implant reconstruction, contralateral symmetrisation surgery, and the transfer of fat for volume deficits and contour remodelling. Additionally, Dr. Chan helped develop transitional studies aimed at various aspects of cancer diagnosis, detection, and treatment.
As she pursued her interests and education, she also received a Skills Attachment Award in contrast-enhanced digital mammography (team AMDA Award) in 2018.
Research Interests
At NUH, Dr. Chan was the head of breast services as well as the programme lead of the sub-speciality cluster and breast tumour programme at NUHS. Her research interests are diverse, and she has been involved in several projects which cover patterns of breast cancer, early detection of breast cancer, novel treatments for breast cancer as well as improving surgical outcomes for breast conserving surgery. Dr. Chan’s latest project as of 2020 includes the profiling of breast cancer and its relation to prognosis. On top of having been widely published in the fields of breast cancer and breast surgery, Dr. Chan is a regular reviewer for two international journals – Tissue Engineering, and the Journal of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Educational Contributions at NUS / General Surgery Training
Dr. Chan was involved in both rationalising the general surgery curriculum for YLLSOM with MOH guidelines and the breast cancer survivorship programme which educates family practitioners regarding the surveillance needs of breast cancer survivors and their return to the community. In addition, Dr. Chan involves herself in overseeing subspecialty core knowledge of breast cancer, when she was Core Faculty for the ACGME General Surgery Programme with an established framework for EPAS for residents for breast surgery.
Current Active Clinical Research
Moving forward, Dr. Chan has two new projects; the use of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields for killing cancer cells, and the use of an optoacoustic probe for intraoperative margin assessment, which she hopes would allow more accurate margin assessment, to decrease the need for a second operation.