"All through my training and now in my practice, I have had the privilege of being mentored by some of the best hepatobiliary surgeons in Singapore. I see first-hand how our patients sometimes come to the brink of death and where our decisions make the difference between life and death – and where technical proficiency directly impact outcomes. I truly believe that anything worth doing is hard, and indeed hepatobiliary surgery is hard, a specialty filled with technical complexity and challenges."
Dr Tan graduated from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore in 2012 and began his General Surgery Residency training at the National University Hospital in 2013. He obtained his Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2014 and Master of Medicine (Surgery) in 2018.
During his residency, he concurrently completed and attained his Masters in Clinical Investigation at the National University of Singapore in 2018 and served as Chief Resident in his final year. Following the completion of his residency, he obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (General Surgery) and was accredited as a Specialist in General Surgery by the Specialist Accreditation Board in 2021 and subsequently joined the Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation at the National University Hospital.
Growing hepatobiliary specialist care
Dr Tan is heavily involved in the running of the hepatobiliary service in both the National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital. As part of his work, he manages both benign and malignant hepatobiliary/general surgical conditions and is also part of the liver transplantation team at the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation (NUCOT).
Outside of his clinical work, Dr Tan is also heavily involved and passionate about research. One specific area of which is in basic translational work for Stage IV colorectal cancer which has spread to the liver. His work is focuses on how and why this occurs, and if there are potential therapeutic targets in this mechanistic pathway.
Nurturing new doctors in patient-centred care
In addition, Dr Tan is part of the core faculty in NUH looking after junior doctors and their education and welfare. The initial years after graduation are an important and critical time in the development of these doctors' careers and ensuring that these doctors are supported in all aspects of their work is a responsibility he takes very seriously.
