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Dr Barrie Tan Yau Boon

Dr Barrie Tan Yau Boon

​MBBS (S'pore); MRCS (Edin); MMed(ORL); FAMS(ORL)

Specialty: Otolaryngology

Sub-specialties: Hearing Implant Surgery, Otology/Neurotology, Skull Base Surgery, Bone Anchored Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants

Conditions Treated by this Doctor:
Allergic Rhinitis, Hearing Disorders.

Profile

​Dr Barrie Tan is a President’s Scholar and the Head of the Department of Otolarynglogy (Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery) in Singapore General Hospital. He is the Director of the Centre for Hearing and Ear Implants and is the Principal Investigator of the Hearing Research Laboratory. He is a Clinical Senior Lecturer with the National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and serves as a Clinical Physician Faculty for the Singhealth Family Medicine Residency Program. He is a member of the ACGME-I ORL Program Exit/ Board Examination Development committee and a Member of the Singapore General Hospital Medical Board, 2012. He also serves as the Vice President of the Singapore Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.


Dr Barrie Tan is currently the Director of the Centre for Hearing and Ear Implants, Singapore General Hospital, which is the largest centre in Singapore specialising in the treatment of all forms of Hearing Impairment. Dr Barrie Tan is Fellowship subspecialty trained in all forms of Hearing Implant Surgery, including Active Middle Ear Implants, Bone Anchored Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants with extensive experience having performed multiple implant surgeries both in Singapore as well as in Australia. His other surgical subspecialty interest is in Neuro-otology and Skull Base Surgery and the management of Skull Base tumours like Vestibular Schwannomas. He is also currently the Principal Investigator of the Hearing Research Laboratory which is involved in various Basic Science and Clinical research projects on hearing Loss, hearing protection and hearing restoration.

He was enrolled as a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine (ORL) after training completion and was awarded the Health Manpower Development Plan Fellowship Award to pursue his subspecialist training in Otology/ Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the Ear Science Institute Australia.

Dr Barrie Tan has been strongly involved in Academic Medicine and in adopting the latest advances in Otology (Ear) and Hearing Implant Surgery. He was the Scientific Program Chairperson for the 7th Asia-Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences in 2009, the largest ENT related conference organized in Singapore to date. He was the Co-Course Director of the Otology and Neuro-Otology Course, Singapore General Hospital Instructional Course Fortnight from 2010-2014. He has published several original research scientific articles in notable peer reviewed journals. He serves as an invited reviewer for scientific journals such as the Singapore Medical Journal. He has travelled as a Regional invited speaker at several overseas conferences, workshops and congresses and has also been invited as an expert speaker locally on Hearing and Ear related disorders with numerous media publications and television interviews.


Education

  • ​FAMS (ORL): Singapore, 2011 
  • MMed (ORL): Singapore, 2006 
  • MRCSEd: Edinburgh, 2004 
  • MBBS: Singapore, 1999 

Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships


  • Director, Centre for Hearing and Ear Implants, SGH 
  • Program Director, SingHealth Otolaryngology Residency Program 
  • Treasurer, Singapore Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, 2012- Present 
  • Member, Singapore General Hospital Medical Board, Jan-Dec 2012 
  • Member,  ACGME-I ORL Program Exit/ Board Examination Development committee, 2012- present 
  • Clinical Senior Lecturer with the National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 2012- present 
  • Clinical Physician Faculty for the Singhealth Family Medicine Residency Program, 2011-present 
  • Member, Singapore Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, 2005 - Present 
  • Member, Singapore Medical Association, 1999 – present

Awards

1. PRESIDENT’S SCHOLARSHIP AWARD - 1994

  • Prestigious scholarship awarded by the Public Service Commission of Singapore 
  • To study Medicine in the National University of Singapore 1994-1999

2. Gibb’s Gold Medal (General Proficiency) – 1999
  • First in general proficiency throughout the entire 5 year undergraduate Medicine course 
  • Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore

3. Dean’s List Award; Final Professional Examination – 1999
  • Awarded to the Top 10 students of the year; Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore

4. Albert Lim Liat Juay Silver Medal; 2nd Professional Part III Examination – 1998
  • First in the 2nd Professional Part III Examination

5. Dean’s List Award; 2nd Professional Part III Examination – 1998
  • Awarded to the Top 10 students of the year; Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore

6. Dean’s List Award; 2nd Professional Part II Examination – 1997
  • Awarded to the Top 10 students of the year; Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore

7. Beecham Book Prize (Microbiology) - 1996
  • Best student in Microbiology in the 2nd Professional Part I Examination

8. Dean’s List Award; 2nd Professional Part I Examination - 1996
  • Awarded to the Top 10 students of the year; Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore

9. Dean’s List Award; 1st Professional Examination – 1995
  • Awarded to the Top 10 students of the year; Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore

10. Computer Assisted Quantitative Videoendoscopic Analysis – Exploring the New Frontiers of Obstructive Sleep Apnea:
  • Winner of the 1st Prize in the Oral Free Paper Competition 
  • Presented at the 4th Annual Scientific Meeting, Changi General Hospital; Aug 2002; Singapore

11. Calibrated Cephalometric Analysis for Obstructive Sleep Apnea – An Innovative Approach
  • Winner of the 2nd Prize in the Oral Free Paper Competition 
  • Paper presented at the 4th Annual Scientific Meeting, Changi General Hospital; Aug 2002; Singapore

12. Service with a Heart Award, SGH, October 2011
  • Awarded to individuals who have contributed outstanding service to SGH

13. Health Manpower Development Plan (HMDP) Fellowship Award 2009
  • Awarded by the Ministry of Health and Singapore Health Services Pte Ltd, Singapore 
  • For a 1 year subspecialty Fellowship Training in Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the Ear Science Institute Australia and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Western Australia

14. Service with a Heart Award, SGH, July-September 2009
  • Awarded to individuals who have contributed outstanding service to SGH

Leadership positions / roles in Medical Education (e.g. Course Directorship, Curriculum Planning / Development Committees)
1.Scientific Program Chairperson
  • 7th Asia Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences, Dec 1-4, 2009; Singapore 
  • Internationally renowned conference organized once every 2 years 
  • 1000 persons attended 
  • Largest ENT conference organized locally to date 
  • Specialist Audience comprising Surgeons, Doctors, Nurses, Audiologists, Implant Scientists from all over the world focusing on the use of Surgically Implantable Hearing Devices and the care of Hearing Impaired person

2. Course Director
  • 7th Otology and Neuro-otology Course, Singapore General Hospital ENT Instructional Week, July 2010 
  • An annual 2 day course that is organized as part of the ENT Instructional course week 
  • Full Hands on participation with cadaveric dissectionsAudience and participants are usually ENT specialists and residents who come from around the region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia and the Middle East

3. Course Director
  • 8th Otology and Neuro-otology Course, Singapore General Hospital ENT Instructional Week, July 2011 
  • An annual 2 day course that is organized as part of the ENT Instructional course week 
  • Full Hands on participation with cadaveric dissections 
  • Audience and participants are usually ENT specialists and residents who come from around the region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia and the Middle East

4. Course Director
  • 9th Otology and Neuro-otology Course, Singapore General Hospital ENT Instructional Week, June 2012 
  •  An annual 2 day course that is organized as part of the ENT Instructional course week 
  • Full Hands on participation with cadaveric dissections 
  • Audience and participants are usually ENT specialists and residents who come from around the region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia and the Middle East

5. Singapore ACGME-I ORL Program
  • Member of the ACGME-I ORL Program Exit/ Board Examination Development committee 
  • Committee tasked to design the Exit/ Board exams that Singapore ACGME-I Residents will have to sit and pass at the end of their residency program


Research Interests

Publications

1. Mobile and landline telephone performance outcomes among telephone-using cochlear implant recipients
Tan BY, Gluth MB, Statham EL, Eikelboom RH, Atlas MD
 Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg Feb 2012; 146(2): 283-88

2. Auricular Pseudocyst in the tropics: a multi-racial Singapore experience
Tan BY, Hsu PP.
 J Laryngol Otol Mar 2004; 118(3):185-88

3. Clinical predictors in obstructive sleep apnea patients with computer-assisted quantitative videoendoscopic upper airway analysis
 Hsu PP, Tan BY, Chan YH, Tay HN, Lu PK, Blair RL
 Laryngoscope May 2004; 114(5):791-99

4. The unique microbiology of chronically unstable canal wall down tympanomastoid cavities and considerations for surgical revision 
 Gluth MB, Tan BY, Santa Maria PL, Atlas MD
 J Laryngol Otol. Just accepted for publication

5. Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty outcome assessment with quantitative computer-assisted videoendoscopic airway analysis 
 Hsu PP, Tan AK, Tan BY, Gan EC, Chan YH, Blair RL, Lu PK
 Acta Otolaryngol Jan 2007; 127(1): 65-70
  

Seminars / Lectureships

International
 1. Objective Improvement and Assessment in Telephone Use among Cochlear Implant Patients
Oral presentation at the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting; April 2011; Sydney, Australia 

2. Post-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance after middle cranial fossa acoustic neuroma resection.
Oral presentation at the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting; April 2011; Sydney, Australia 

3. Long term results following mastoid obliteration and exploring a new method of hearing rehabilitation with the Vibrant Soundbridge
Lecture and oral presentation at the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting; April 2011; Sydney, Australia 

Regional
 1. Neuroglial Heterotopia of the Palate: A Rare Case
Presented at the 6th Asia Pacific Craniofacial Association Conference, Nov 2006; Singapore 

2. Long term results following Mastoid Obliteration
Lecture at the Singapore-Malaysia ENT Congress Meeting, November 2011, Malacca, Malaysia 
Lecture and oral presentation at the 11th Asia-Pacific Congress on Deafness, July 2012; Singapore 
Lecture and oral presentation at the 3rd Asia Pacific Singapore Otology Neurotology & Skull Base Congress, October 2012; Singapore 

3. Telephone Usage among Cochlear Implant Recipients
Presented at the 2nd Asia Pacific-Singapore Otology Neurotology & Skull base congress, October 2011; Singapore 

Local
 1. Computer Assisted Quantitative Videoendoscopic Analysis – Exploring the New Frontiers of Obstructive Sleep Apnea:
Winner of the 1st Prize in the Oral Free Paper Competition. Presented at the 4th Annual Scientific Meeting, Changi General Hospital; Aug 2002; Singapore 

2. Calibrated Cephalometric Analysis for Obstructive Sleep Apnea – An Innovative Approach
Winner of the 2nd Prize in the Oral Free Paper Competition. Paper presented at the 4th Annual Scientific Meeting, Changi General Hospital; Aug 2002; Singapore 

3. Surgical Hearing Implants
Lecture at the 8th  Otology and Neuro-otology Course, Singapore General Hospital ENT Instructional week July 2011; Singapore 

4. Tracheostomy: Indications and Complications
Lecture at the Updates in Medical and Surgical Management of Thoracopulmonary Conditions, 17 September 2011. Organized by the National Heart Centre, Singapore 

5. Allergic Rhinitis
Lecture to doctors and nurses at the Outram Polyclinic, March 2012; Singapore 

6. Fundamentals of Ear Operations
Lecture at the 2nd Foundation Surgical Skills Course in Otolaryngology, April 2012, Singapore 

7. Updates in Surgical Hearing Implants
Lecture at the Singapore General Hospital ENT Department GP symposium, March 2012; Singapore 
Lecture at the 9th Otology and Neuro-otology Course, Singapore General Hospital ENT Instructional week July 2012; Singapore 
Lecture at the Hospital Wide Clinical Meeting, Singapore General Hospital, Aug 2012; Singapore 

8. Use of Lasers in Otology
Lecture at the Singapore General Hospital ENT Laser Course, 4-5 June 2012

Research Trials