Overview of Otorhinolaryngology in Singapore

Otorhinolaryngology in Singapore started off in 1926 under the direction of general surgeons Mr. C.J. Smith and Professor Dickson Wright, Professor of Surgery in the King Edward VII College of Medicine. Otolaryngology became a separate discipline of surgery in Singapore in 1928 with the advent of Mr. B.M. Johns, a general surgeon who was trained in ENT Surgery in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Singapore’s first independent ENT unit was established at the Stanley Block Singapore General Hospital in 1957 headed by Mr. Au Kee Hock. Upon Mr. Au’s retirement a year later, Mr. Seow Li Jin, who is credited with introducing microsurgery in ENT, became Head of Unit in 1958. During this period, diagnostic, therapeutic and training modalities essential to Otolaryngology were established i.e. advanced audiological diagnostic facilities and the vestibular laboratory, fibre-optic nasal endoscopy and a temporal bone micro-surgical laboratory, all in 1980, carbon dioxide laser surgery in 1982 and endoscopic sinus surgery in 1987. Sub-specialization in Head and Neck Surgery, Otology including Neuro-Otology, Pediatric Otolaryngology and Audiology were identified from 1986, Rhinology in 1990, Laryngology in 1998 and Sleep Surgery in 2003. ENT Services were set up at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in 1978 and at Toa Payoh Hospital as early as 1967 firstly with ENT specialists from Singapore General Hospital serving on a rotational basis and later as full time staff in independent departments. As with worldwide trends, most ENT departments are converting or have converted their department names to Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Departments to reflect the central role of the ENT specialty in Head and Neck surgery.

Message from the Chapter Chairman, Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan

The ORL fraternity is fortunate to have a dynamic Chapter Board of 6 members who, coincidentally, are equally distributed between the public and private sector hospitals. This is a true reflection of the ORL community in Singapore and ours is an example of Public Private Partnership (PPP) at work. Both sides have always supported the efforts of the other and I hope that this trend goes on for the foreseeable future.

The Chapter Board’s Terms of Reference include all matters pertaining to the professional training, education and academic activities related to ORL.

Amongst the aims of the present board would be to put in place a program where fellows can be updated on the latest developments occurring at the cutting-edge of various ORL sub-specialties.

Renewal is also a high priority and with the significant increase in enrolment into our popular ORL Advanced Surgical Traineeship (AST), we hope to see younger and energetic fellows join us and take on more responsibilities in the chapter so as to advance the cause of Singapore ORL.

We look forward to feedback about how we can do things better.

See you at our activities.