DR. KIM GUOWEI

Dr. Kim Guowei graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2007. He completed surgical residency at the National University Hospital (NUH) in 2016, serving as Chief Resident. He was awarded the Academic Medicine Development Award (AMDA) in 2018 and spent a year at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Korea, mastering laparoscopic and robotic surgery for gastric cancer.

With a keen interest in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and education, he served as a Clinical Lecturer for the Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS, from 2014 to 2021, before being appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2021.

Dr. Kim has also trained postgraduate doctors in the National University Health System (NUHS) Residency Programme since 2017, serving as Core Faculty and then as Associate Programme Director and finally as Program Director of the NUHS General Surgery Residency Programme, grooming the next generation of surgeons. He was awarded the NUS “Dean’s Excellence Award” for teaching and education in 2017, the “NUS Medicine Fortitude Award” in 2020 for educational contributions during the COVID crisis and the NUH Education Award: GREAT Teacher (Interactive), GREAT Teacher (Didactic) in 2022.

Dr. Kim has a strong interest in innovation in surgery, and strongly believes that keeping abreast with advances in technology is quintessential to give Singaporean patients access to the best medical care available. To this end, he embraces technology such as artificial intelligence and robotics to improve existing techniques to improve patient outcomes. One such example would be the successful performance of robotic telesurgery over a distance of more than 5,000 km between Singapore and Japan in October 2023.

He also is an early adopter of new techniques, being part of the team that performed the first Pressurised Intraperitoneal Aerosolised Chemotherapy (PIPAC) procedure in Asia in 2016, conducting several first-in-the-world trials on PIPAC, and was the first in the region to successfully perform mediastinoscopy assisted trans-hiatal esophagectomy (MATHE).

Being a keen advanced endoscopist, Dr. Kim also performs endoscopic tube and stent insertion, and performs Per Oral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) for Achalasia, Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD) for Upper Gastrointestinal tumours, Endoscopic Full Thickness Resection (EFTR) for submucosal tumours of the stomach and the first Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG) at NUH for bariatric patients.

While in public service, he was also awarded the Esprit de Corps Award (Alexandra Hospital) 2023 for exemplary patient care. He also served as a proctor at several public hospitals (NUH, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital) and is an active instructor at local and regional endoscopic and surgical workshops). He also has been invited to speak at international conferences on robotic surgery, artificial intelligence in Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery, and on surgical innovation and techniques. Since moving to private practice, Dr. Kim still serves as a Visiting Consultant at NUH and NTFGH to continue to contribute to public health care and education.

Believing in keeping up-to-date with the latest advances, Dr. Kim is an active reviewer for several journals including Annals of Surgical Oncology and Obesity Surgery. He currently serves as President Elect, Executive Committee (EXCO) in the Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of Singapore (OMSSS), the Upper Gastrointestinal Lead and Board member for the Robotic Surgery Society of Singapore (RS3), and was the past-National Coordinator for The Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons Society (TUGSS). He is also a member of the Singapore Medical Association (SMA), and a life member of the Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia Society (ELSA).

Dr. Kim believes strongly in clinical excellence, having served as a senior consultant at National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital, and being awarded the Esprit de Corps Award (Alexandra Hospital) 2023 for exemplary patient care, before moving on into private practice. He also has a passion for cancer survivorship, helping to organise and facilitate the upper gastrointestinal support group at NUH since 2022, after the COVID pandemic. The treatment of upper gastrointestinal cancers is often a daunting and challenging journey, and walking this road with his patients brings meaning to his work. Indeed, meeting and chatting with cancer survivors and their families, who live active and productive lives years after surgery, helps motivate and drive him to continue striving for excellence.

Outside of work, Dr Kim spends his time running the occasional marathon, stand-up paddle boarding in the waters off Singapore, and spending quality time with his family and friends.