Dr Chao Siew Shuen

Dr Chao Siew Shuen is an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon practising at Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore. She specialises in treating ear, nose and throat conditions in adults and children. In particular, she is well-known for managing nasal (nose) and sinus disorders such as nasal allergy, obstruction, bleeding, infection, polyps (non-cancerous growths) and tumours.

She is experienced in performing open and endoscopic surgery for sinus disorders, as well as complex procedures to treat conditions at the skull base and eye orbit, which is the area between the eyeball and the bony socket.

After completing her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1993, Dr Chao underwent specialist training and was accredited as a specialist in otorhinolaryngology (ENT) by the Singapore Medical Council in 2002. Thereafter, she was awarded a Healthcare Manpower Development Program (HDMP) scholarship to pursue subspecialty training in sinus surgery and allergy at the University of Iowa, USA in 2003.

Dr Chao was formerly a senior consultant ENT surgeon in the Department of Otolaryngology and the director of clinical services at the National University Hospital (NUH).

At NUH, Dr Chao spearheaded several important clinical programs, such as the rhinology and allergy programme to provide integrated diagnosis and treatment for patients with nose and sinus conditions. She also worked with the Department of Ophthalmology to provide multidisciplinary evaluation and endoscopic surgical treatment for patients with orbital conditions, such as thyroid eye disease and optic nerve injury. In 2009, she started the endoscopic skull-base programme with the Division of Neurosurgery to provide less invasive surgery for conditions such as pituitary and skull base tumours.

Aside from clinical work, Dr Chao was an associate professor to the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS. She was also the director of undergraduate teaching from 2007 – 2009.

Dr Chao has been invited to share her knowledge and skills in endoscopic sinus surgery with various ENT doctors in the region, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar. She publishes regularly in international peer–reviewed journals and has presented her work at numerous international scientific meetings, where she has won several awards and prizes.