Dr Phua Chu Qin

Dr Phua Chu Qin is a fellowship trained sleep surgeon and Director of Sleep Surgery at the Deparment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Sengkang General Hospital. She graduated from University of Edinburgh and completed her Otolaryngology Residency Training in Singapore. She obtained further professional qualification of Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) in Otolaryngology with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

She has distinct interest in the subspecialty of Sleep Medicine and Surgery, which spurred her on to complete a Sleep Surgery fellowship under the Professor Toh Song Tar at SingHealth Duke-NUS Sleep Centre in 2019. She also underwent further fellowship training in Craniofacial Surgery for Sleep Apnea at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital with Professor Clement Lin, after being awarded the Health Manpower Development Plan (HMDP) grant by Singapore Ministry of Health. She seeks to alleviate symptoms associated with obstructive sleep apnea and to reduce its associated adverse sequelae. She is in the constant pursuit to help patients improve their sleep-related quality of life. This has led her to update her skillsets in obtaining further training for Da Vinci Transoral Robotic Surgery in 2018 and Hypoglossal nerve implant surgery training in 2023, in order to provide a more comprehensive care and additional treatment options for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. 

She also led the SKH Sleep unit in an innovative effort to provide easier and cheaper access to myofunctional therapy exercise, by creating a Tele-myofunctional therapy exercise app. This free app is incorporated into the SingHealth official Health Buddy app to enable easy access for patients to perform the therapy at home using the guided exercise videos on the app, so to improve their snoring. She has received the SingHealth FY2023 Innovation Seed Grant to incorporate Artificial Intelligence software to help automate myofunctional therapy monitoring and feedback for sleep apnea patients.

Dr Phua has immense enthusiasm in patient and junior doctor’s education. She believes in empowering patients by enhancing their understanding of their own conditions and equipping patients with strategies to manage their conditions. She is passionate about helping medical students and residents develop their potential. She was awarded the NHG-NUS Medicine Junior Doctor Teaching Award in 2016 as a recognition of her accomplishment in undergraduate education. She also published the ‘Residency Interview Handbook’ that aims to help medical students and junior doctors navigate their career into Residency training. She also recently received best clinical tutor ward in 2024, as voted by ENT residents. 

• MBChB (Edinburgh)
  
• MRCSEd
  
• DOHNS (Edinburgh)
  
• MMed ORL (Singapore)
  
• FRCSEd
  

• Clinical Lecturer, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
  
• FRCS (Edinburgh)
  

• Awarded FY2023 Cycle 2 Clinical & System Innovation (CSI) Grant – Innovation Seed Grant for project 'Reshaping Myofunctional therapy with development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to enable automated therapy monitoring and feedback for Sleep Apnea patients'
  
• NHG-NUS Medicine Junior Doctor Teaching Award, 2016
  
• Best Temporal Bone Dissection for the NHG ENT Dissection Course, 2015
  
• 1st Runner-up for FESS Dissection for the NHG ENT Dissection Course, 2015
  
• Clinical Leadership in Research Grant, National Healthcare Group, Singapore, 2013
  
• Northwestern Deanery School of Surgery Gold Award for Outstanding Performance in Core Surgical Training, 2011
  
• Prize for Best Oral Presentation North of England Otolaryngology Society Spring Meeting, 2011
  

• Fong PY, Tay ZY, Soh RY, Fook S, Li HH, Phua CQ. Should mild obstructive sleep apnea be treated? A systematic review from the standpoint of disease progression. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology 2022; 1 - 12
  
• Phua CQ, Jang IJH, Tan KB. Reducing cost and time to diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea using ambulatory sleep study: a Singapore sleep centre experience. Sleep Breath. Published online June 10, 2020. doi:10.1007/s11325-020-02115-z
• Toh ST, Phua CQ, Loh S. Holistic Management of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Translating Academic Research to Patient Care. Sleep Med Clin. 2019 Mar;14(1):1-11. 
• Phua CQ, Loh SRH, Toh ST. Selecting different surgical approaches for hypopharyngeal obstruction. International Journal of Head and Neck Surgery. 2019: 10 (3): 67 -76
  
• Flexible nasendoscopy decontamination: a comparison between Rapicide and Tristel wipes, a prospective cohort study.  YJ Gan, A Matthews, CQ Phua, I Koo, D Loke. International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, 2018: 4 (1).
  
• Clinical evaluation of flexible nasoendoscope decontamination.  CQ Phua, WX Yeo, S Menon, DE Partha Prathim, S Lo, EC Ho. Archives of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, 2017;1(2):5.
  
• Multi-level obstruction in obstructive sleep apnoea: prevalence, severity and predictive factors.  Phua CQ, Yeo WX, Su C, Mok PKH. J Laryngol Otol, 2017 Nov;131(11):982-986.
  
• Bilateral keratin horns arising from the tympanic membranes: A case report.  CQ Phua, Malik V, Sheehan PZ. ENT Journal 2015; 94 (2): E22 - 3.
  
• Is routine chest X-ray after surgical and percutaneous tracheostomy necessary in adults: a systematic review of the current literature.  WX Yeo, CQ Phua, S Lo. Clinical Otolaryngology 2014, 39 (2): 79 - 88.
  
• Survey Of Current Practices In Peri-Operative Management Of FESS Patients And Review Of Literature.  CQ Phua, C Goh, K Loke. The Internet Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, 2014; 17 (1).
  
• Injection Laryngoplasty.  CQ Phua, Y Mahalingappa, J Homer, Y Karagama. The Otorhinolaryngologist, 2013; 6(2): 111 - 118.
  
• Sequential cohort study comparing chlorine dioxide wipes with automated washing for decontamination of flexible nasendoscopes.  CQ Phua, Y Mahalingappa, Y Karagama. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology, 2012; 126 (8): 809-814.
  
• Hoarseness secondary to haemodialysis: case report and literature review.  M Santhirakumar, CQ Phua, Y Karagama. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology, 2012; 126 (8):867-869.
  
• Fluctuation of Corrected Serum Calcium Level Following Partial and Total Thyroidectomy.  V Malik, GJ Watson, CQ Phua, P Murthy. International Journal of Clinical Medicine 2011; Vol.2(4):411-417.
  
• Examination Under Anaesthesia of Post-Nasal Space +/- Adenoidectomy in Children.  Y Mahalingappa, CQ Phua, Y Karagama. International Journal of Surgery, 2011; 9 (7) : 578.
  
• The ability to clinically predict grade and stage in new bladder tumours - results of a prospective clinical study.  V Lavin, CQ Phua, SAA Khan, P Mariappan. British Journal of Medical and Surgical Urology (BJMSU) 2009; Vol 2(6):255.