Dr Dean is a Senior Consultant, General and Colorectal Surgeon with over 20 years of expertise.
After Dr Dean completed his specialist training in General Surgery, he successfully match in the US Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited residency in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Ferguson Clinic/ Michigan State University Programme.
This fellowship allowed him to complete the formal fellowship training certified by the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery encompassing a broad range of colon and anorectal procedures for cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and functional colorectal conditions. With the impact of the COST study in the United States in those years, he also received formal training in laparoscopic colon and rectal procedures.
This remains his main interest in his practice here in Singapore. He has been performing robotic assisted laparoscopic colorectal resections since 2008 and is a listed colorectal surgeon on the da Vinci surgeon locator. As recognition of his expertise in the field of minimally invasive colorectal surgery, Dr Koh has been appointed Visiting Professor at the Institut de Rechergecontre les Cancers de l’Appareil Digestif – European Institute of TeleSurgery (IRCAD-EITS) in Strasbourg, France and the Institut de Rechergecontre les Cancers de l’Appareil Digestif – ShowChwan Health Care System Asian Institute of TeleSurgery in Taiwan since 2014. He has been on the faculty there teaching the Advanced Laparoscopic Colorectal and the Robotic Colorectal courses.
Dr Melvin Look graduated with MBBS from the National University of Singapore and completed his Fellowship in Surgery with the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh and the Royal College of Surgeons Glasgow. He underwent further training for a year at the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo on a Ministry of Health Fellowship in Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Surgery.
He also worked for a year in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK, as an Honorary Consultant in Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery. Other training awards include a Tan Tock Seng Hospital Scholarship in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery at the Mt Sinai Medical Centre, New York, and an International Cancer Fellowship from the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer (UICC) for the Treatment of Peritoneal Cancer at the Washington Cancer Institute, Washington DC.
Dr Look is a general surgeon with a subspecialty expertise in gastrointestinal surgery, therapeutic endoscopy (including ERCP) and advanced laparoscopic surgery. He has a strong interest in Radical Resection, including Peritonectomy Procedures, for the surgical treatment of esophageal, gastric, pancreatic and abdominal cancers. He also performs a wide repertoire of minimally-invasive surgery and was the first surgeon in the South East Asia to perform a number of advanced laparoscopic operations; including Hand-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery, Endoscopic Thyroid Surgery, and Laparoscopic Swedish Adjustable Gastric Banding for morbid obesity.
Dr Look is very much involved in surgical education and was a Clinical Lecturer with the National University of Singapore. He has been invited to surgical demonstrations in international conferences and proctored the training of many laparoscopic surgeons in Singapore and the region. In 2002, he set up the first laparoscopic surgery training center outside of USA to be endorsed by the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). For his work in the medical field, he has been listed in the peerage publication “Who’s Who in the World” since the year 2000.
Dr. Cheong obtained his medical degree at the National University of Singapore in 1983 and went on to train in the field of General Surgery.
On returning to Singapore, Dr Cheong spearheaded the development of Colorectal Surgery at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He was appointed consultant in 1995 and was subsequently promoted to senior consultant and head of Colorectal service. He has held appointments as Director of the Digestive Disease Centre and was the visiting consultant to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, John Hopkins (Singapore) International Medical Centre and the National Cancer Centre, Singapore. Dr Cheong was awarded another HMDP scholarship to further develop his expertise in Colorectal Cancer Surgery in 2003 and did attachments at St. Mark’s Hospital in London, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the University of Uppsala, Sweden. In 2008, he was again awarded the HMDP fellowship to hone his skills in Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery at the Australian Endosurgery Centre in Brisbane.
Dr Cheong has extensive experience in managing anal conditions like hemorrhoids, fistula and fissure, as well as treating colorectal cancer and diverticular disease. He is an expert endoscopist and has performed more than 12,000 colonoscopies over the past 20 years. He is a pioneer of laparoscopic colon surgery in Singapore; having done more than 180 related operations.
Dr. Cheong played a key role in developing Oncology services in TTSH and led the development of laparoscopic (keyhole) colorectal surgery at the hospital. He took up undergraduate and postgraduate training as a Senior Clinical Lecturer and examiner for the MBBS finals with the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.