DOCTOR PROFILE

Dr Chew Min Hoe

Medical Director

Senior Consultant,

General & Colorectal Surgeon

MBBS (Singapore), MRCS (Edinburgh),

MMed (Surgery), FRCS (Edinburgh)

Dr Chew Min Hoe has devoted over 20 years of service to the public sector and was the founding Head of Department of Surgery in the newly-opened Sengkang General Hospital.

His clinical specialty is General and Colorectal Surgery with special niche interests in colorectal cancer, advanced pelvic tumours, hereditary conditions as well as perianal surgery. He is highly involved in education and research, and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles.

CLINICAL EXPERTISE

Dr Chew Min Hoe graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2001. He subsequently obtained his Master of Medicine in Surgery from NUS in 2006 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2010.
Dr Chew was awarded the Singhealth Human Manpower Development Plan (HMDP) Award to pursue further training in complex pelvic surgery, and completed his Fellowship at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney, Australia) in 2011-2012.
Dr Chew is experienced in a wide range of benign and malignant colorectal diseases and is skilled in minimally invasive techniques. His areas of expertise include difficult locally advanced pelvic cancers as well as genetic hereditary colorectal conditions.

LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Dr Chew was the President of Society of Colorectal Surgeons, Singapore from 2022 to 2023. Prior to that, he was the founding Head of Department of Surgery in Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) from July 2016 to June 2020, and was subsequently promoted to Chairman, Division of Surgery in July 2020. He has also held various other key administrative positions such as:

SingHealth Vice Chairman of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development of the Academic Medicine Council for Surgery
SKH Director of the Operating Theatre Management Unit and Endoscopy Centre
Member of the EXCO committee of the Society of Colorectal Surgeons in 2012-2015
Awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) at the National Day Awards in 2020
Active in National Service and Appointed as Commanding Officer of 3rd Combat Support Hospital in 2017

While in the public sector, Dr Chew managed large teams of clinicians as well as administrative and nursing staff. He has considerable experience designing and leading quality improvement projects, managing crisis events, as well as working with department leaders to boost the morale of staff members.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Dr Chew held concurrent appointments of Adjunct Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS), Duke-NUS Medical School, as well as Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (NTU).
An active educator, Dr Chew has won numerous teaching awards including the SingHealth Outstanding Young Educator Golden Apple Award in 2013.

RESEARCH AND ACADEMIA

Dr Chew has authored over a hundred peer-reviewed publications, and was involved in many research grants.
He has also been invited as guest speaker in many international conferences; and has participated in several international consortiums.

AWARDS

Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (COVID-19) The Public Service Medal (COVID-19) 2023
The COVID-19 Resilience Medal 2023
PIngat Bakti Masayarakat, Public Administration Medal (Bronze) 2020

A NOTE ABOUT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Dr Chew was part of a whole of nation effort combating the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. As the entire medical community performed defined roles to combat the outbreak, Dr Chew, together with his surgical teams, nurses and allied health staff, were deployed to the dormitories to perform swab and serology operations.

This was indeed a unique and unforgettable experience, from which many valuable lessons were learnt. Despite working in difficult conditions in PPE with the high heat and humidity, with high fears and anxiety of the disease behaviour, Dr Chew was privileged to lead and be part of many committed and resilient individuals who willingly went over and beyond the call of duty.

With experience garnered from the SARS outbreak, lessons acquired during the initial COVID-19 outbreak were also quickly written up and published to provide scientific evidence for the global community. These include safe surgical practices in the operating theatre, disease behaviours in surgical patients, as well as how our staff cope with the mental burnouts during the pandemic.

Dr Chew would like to acknowledge the international medical community for their sustained and continued efforts for a return to normality.

COVID-RELATED PUBLICATIONS:

Ngaserin SH, Koh FH, Ong BC, Chew MH

COVID-19 not detected in peritoneal fluid: a case of laparoscopic appendicectomy for acute appendicitis in a COVID-19-infected patient

Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2020 May 9:1-3. doi: 10.1007/s00423-020-01891-2.
Tan WJ, Acharyya S, Chew MH, Foo FJ, Chan WH, Wong WK, Ooi LL, Ng JCF, Ong HS

Randomized control trial comparing an Alvarado Score-based management algorithm and current best practice in the evaluation of suspected appendicitis

World J Emerg Surg. 2020 May 1;15(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s13017-020-00309-0.PMID: 32357897
Chew MH, Tan WJ, Ng CY, Ng KH

Deeply reconsidering elective surgery: worldwide concerns regarding colorectal surgery in a COVID-19 pandemic and a Singapore perspective

Singapore Med J. 2020 Apr 29. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2020070. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32349195
Ng ASH, Chew MH, Charn TC, Wong MK, Wong WK, Lee LS

Keeping a cut above the coronavirus disease: surgical perspectives from a public health institution in Singapore during Covid-19

ANZ J Surg. 2020 Apr 10. doi: 10.1111/ans.15904. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32274842
Chew MH, Koh FH, Ng KH

A call to arms: a perspective of safe general surgery in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic

Singapore

Med J. 2020 Apr 3. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2020049. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32241064
Ngaserin S, Chua HW, Chew MH, Tan BK

A tripartite approach can seek to optimize breast cancer management during a pandemic - Real-Time experience of a developing breast oncology unit in Singapore

Breast J. 2020 Jul 1. doi: 10.1111/tbj.13961. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32608540.
Kabir T, Kam JH, Chew MH

Cholecystectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic: Current evidence and an understanding of the 'new' critical view of safety: Correspondence.

Int J Surg. 2020 Jul;79:307-308. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.06.012. Epub 2020 Jun 9.

PMID: 32526267; PMCID: PMC7280106.
Koh FH, Tan MG, Chew MH

The fight against COVID-19: disinfection protocol and turning over of CleanSpace ®HALO™ in a Singapore Hospital.

Updates Surg. 2020 Jun;72(2):311-313. doi: 10.1007/s13304-020-00809-3. Epub 2020

May 27. PMID: 32462609; PMCID: PMC7251320.
Tan WJ, Foo FJ, Sivarajah SS, Li LHM, Koh FH, Chew MH

Safe Colorectal Surgery in the COVID-19 Era - A Singapore Experience.

Ann Coloproctol. 2020 Apr;36(2):65-69. doi: 10.3393/ac.2020.04.21. Epub 2020 Apr 30.

PMID: 32429009; PMCID: PMC7299572.
Koh FH, Ng A, Tan A, Li J, Mohd-Nor NB, Ng SP, Chew MH.

Full-Dress Rehearsals with Actual Non-Infected Patients Builds Confidence and Familiarity - An Experience from Singapore during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

J Invest Surg. 2020 Sep 24:1-3. doi: 10.1080/08941939.2020.1821135. Online ahead of

print. PMID: 32969721
Ong CS, Ong MW, Koh FH, Tan KY, Chew MH.

Accepting a "new norm" - what level of PPE do we really need for surgery during COVID-19?

Br J Surg. 2020 Sep 10. doi: 10.1002/bjs.12024. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32909631

No abstract available.
T Kabir, A Y H Tan, F H X Koh, M H Chew

Burnout and professional fulfilment among surgeons during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Br J Surg 2021 Jan 27;108(1):e3-e5. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znaa001 PMID: 33640911 PMCID:

PMC7799337
Au-Yong PA, Peh WM, Koh FH, Teo LM, Ng SP, Tan AL, Ng AS, Chew MH.

Perceptions of healthcare workers in high-risk areas of a Singapore hospital during COVID-19: a crosssectional study. Singapore Med J. 2021 Apr 19. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2021046. Online ahead of print PMID: 33866717
Koh FH, Chau KC, Ng SP, Teo LM, Ong SG, Wong WK, Ong BC, Chew MH

Learning experience on sentinel cases of COVID-19 at a public healthcare institution: sharing on operating room processes. Singapore Med J2020 Nov 30. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2020161

OUR MOTTO

Our motto is "Caring Hearts, Evidence Based Minds, Skilled Hands".

The simple philosophy of our clinic consists of 3 parts:

Caring Hearts

We understand there are many concerns and anxieties when one seeks medical treatment. We aim to listen, empathize and understand the needs of all our patients. Treatment is individualized and personalized.
Evidence Based Minds

Medical science is ever changing and evolving. Scientific evidence provided can be confusing and overwhelming. Interpretation can often be misunderstood and practices that work in certain countries may not be suited for our local population. We will aim to use up to date knowledge and scientific evidence available to provide best practices and aid in decision making.
Skilled Hands

If surgery is needed we will perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with the highest skills available. We will aim to use innovation and technology when suitable to allow enhanced recovery. Decisions made will be explained thoroughly with the patient and their caregivers to ensure complete understanding of the benefits, risks and limitations of each procedure. Most importantly, surgery will be done safely and with the best interests of our patients.