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Dr Foo Chek Siang
General Surgeon
MBBS M Med (Surgery) MRCS (Edinburgh) FRCS (Edinburgh) FAMS (Surgery)
Dr. Foo Chek Siang graduated with the degrees of MBBS from the National University of Singapore in 1997. He started his advanced surgical training in the
major tertiary restructured hospitals in Singapore, obtaining the post graduate qualifications of MRCS (Edinburgh) and MMed (Surgery) in 2003, before completion in 2007 with the FRCS (General Surgery). He was inducted into the Fellowship of the Academy of Medicine Singapore in the same year.
Dr. Foo was privileged to have had a double fellowship as part of sub-specialist
training. He was trained in advanced laparoscopic techniques under the pupilage of Dr. Jean-Louis Dulucq at the Institute of Laparoscopic Surgery in Bordeaux, France.
Dr. Dulucq is distinguished among the foremost laparoscopic gastrointestinal
surgeons in Europe with a wide repertoire of advanced upper gastrointestinal,
hepatobiliary and colorectal operations under his belt. Dr. Foo was then awarded the
Health Manpower Development Programme Award by the Ministry of Health in 2008,
and spent a year in St. George Hospital, Kogarah-Sydney, New South Wales, Australia under the pupilage of Dr. John Jorgensen, Dr. Michael Talbot and Dr. Ken Loi. His repertoire in advanced laparoscopy, and in particular upper gastrointestinal and bariatric work was further honed with the vast spectrum and high volume of
complicated oncological (cancer), functional, bariatric (weight loss surgery) and
metabolic work.
Dr. Foo had been actively teaching in advanced laparoscopic techniques, involved in faculties of local masterclasses and the regional Asia Endosurgery Task Force,
sharing his experience and encouraging the adoption of advanced surgical
techniques among the surgeons in South East Asia and wider East Asia. It is his
belief that minimal access surgery is the now and future of surgical treatment,
providing greater surgical precision and better results with faster recovery and better patient comfort, without any compromise in surgical efficacy.
Dr. Foo had been involved in clinical research encompassing mainly oesophageal
and gastric cancer in the local institutions. Of particular note was a contributory
co-investigator in the Gastric Cancer Epidemiology, Clinical and Genetic Programme
(GCEP) Cohort Study of Patients at High Risk of Gastric Cancer, the data from which
further research is still on-going.
He is also a founding member and previous committee member of the OMSSS (Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society of Singapore), and has contributed to the work
of like-minded local-regional surgical professionals.
Dr. Foo is among some of the pioneering specialists in Mount Elizabeth Novena
Hospital, having started his private practice on 2 July 2012 together with the
inauguration of this world-class Centre of Medical Excellence offering quality tertiary care. He contributes to the Hospital in serving as the Chairman of the Medical
Quality Assurance and a previous vice-Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board. He
believes that private healthcare in Singapore fills the gap in providing expeditious multidisciplinary care without forsaking compassion and empathy.
In addition to serving the Hospital specialists, Dr. Foo gives back to the medical
community by teaching regularly at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine as a
Clinical Practice Facilitator. He also makes it a point to involve himself in regular
medical mission trips to the region.
Dr. Foo’s clinical expertise lies in abdominal and digestive surgery, applying the techniques of minimal access surgery to treat conditions of the digestive tract – be it in the upper gastrointestinal tract (oesophagus, stomach and duodenum), lower
gastrointestinal tract (small and large intestine), hepatobiliary tree (liver and
gallbladder) or abdominal wall conditions like abdominal and groin herniae.
He has significant experience and training in radical oncological surgery, applying
the techniques of systematic extensive lymphadenectomy in oesophageal and
stomach cancer. He is a proponent of radical lymphadenectomy especially in the
context of stomach cancer, combined with a multi-disciplinary team comprising
medical oncology, for the best possible long-term control of disease and overall
survival.
Dr. Foo also has a deep passion for bariatric (weight loss) and metabolic (diabetic
and related conditions) surgery. With the rising epidemic of obesity and increasing recognition of its related illnesses like diabetes, heart diseases and cancer, Dr. Foo
is convinced that obesity is a true medical condition that can be successfully
overcome with surgery. He also advocates surgery to help patients who are battling
worsening and uncontrollable weight-related metabolic disorders like diabetes,
hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol), fatty liver, gout and obstructive sleep apnoea. Recognising obesity as a medical, and not just a cosmetic, disease, Dr. Foo believes that while surgery provides the best possible results for weight and metabolic control,
a multi-disciplinary approach is the catalyst for sustained long-term results.
Being an avid amateur endurance athlete with Ironman distance triathlon and ultra
marathon races under his belt, Dr. Foo’s personal conviction is that long-term control
of chronic conditions like obesity and metabolic disorders and functional disorders is
best accompanied with personal paradigm shifts in dietary and exercise habits. He
believes that exercise is a form of medicine that benefits not just the body but also
the mind and soul. While he has retired from the triathlon scene, he has still been
active doing road cycling and trail running. As much as he gets his sense of
achievement from seeing his patients recover from their ailments, he also gets his
satisfaction from climbing mountains on his road bike. He is currently training in his
free time for trail ultramarathons and hopes to qualify for the UTMB one day.
