"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, very hard and I am still learning every day. I chose to specialise in this area because these I find these conditions and the technical complexity in managing and operating them are challenging and extremely fascinating."
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 Alexandra Hospital and pushing advancements in liver transplants. He was part of the team that did the first liver transplant for colorectal liver metastases, a surgery that offers new hope to a specific group of patients.
He has various research interests, one of them is in basic translational work for colorectal liver metastases. This area of work investigates patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver– some of whom live for decades with stage 4 cancer.
Nurturing new doctors in patient-centred care
Dr Tan is part of the core faculty in NUH looking after post-graduate Houseman and their education, welfare and other aspects. Looking after these new doctors and paying close attention to get their careers off to a good start is a very significant privilege for Dr Tan as this is a very important stage of their lives.
1. Tan CHN, Hwang S, Bonney GK, Ganpathi IS, Madhavan K, Kow WCA. The influence of the middle hepatic vein and its impact on outcomes in right lobe living donor liver transplantation. HPB (Oxford). 2018.
2. Tan CHN, Tan KHJ, Lee CL, Lee LS, Chiow KHA, Goh KPB, et al. Observing an upward trajectory in minimally invasive hepatectomies in Singapore—a nationwide analysis. Ann Laparosc Endosc Surg, 2018. 2018;3(9).
3. Tan CHN, Yu Y, Tan YRN, Lim BLK, Iyer SG, Madhavan K, et al. Bridging therapies to liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: A bridge to nowhere? Ann Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg. 2018;22(1):27-35.
4. Tan CHN, Soon GST, Kow WCA. Liver lesions detected in a hepatitis B core total antibody-positive patient masquerading as hepatocellular carcinoma: a rare case of peliosis hepatis and a review of the literature. Ann Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg. 2017;21(3):157-62.
5. Tan CHN, Kim G, So J, Shabbir A. Single-Incision Laparoscopic Transgastric Underrunning and Closure of Cameron Ulcers in Acute Gastrointestinal Bleeding. J Gastrointest Surg. 2018.
6. Tan CN, Chong CS, Fong YF, Rauff S, Tan KK. Laparoscopic Anterior Resection with Transvaginal Specimen Extraction (TVSE) for Colorectal Cancer and Concomitant Total Hysterectomy and Bilateral Salpingo-Oophrectomy (THBSO): A Technical Description. Ann Surg Oncol. 2016.
7. Pang KW, Tan CH, Loh S, Chang KY, Iyer SG, Madhavan K, et al. Outcomes of Percutaneous Cholecystostomy for Acute Cholecystitis. World J Surg. 2016.