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Orthopaedics Surgeon / Spine Specialist

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Dr Paul Thng Leong Keng (汤龙庆医生) image

MBBS (Singapore)

FRCS (Edin)

FRCS (Glas)

Dr Paul Thng Leong Keng is the Medical Director of PTL Spine & Orthopaedics Clinic. He is a fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon with over 30 years of experience, subspecializing in the management of complex spinal issues.

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Summary of Present and Previous Positions

Senior Consultant and Medical Director, PTL Spine & Orthopaedics Clinic

Visiting Senior Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Changi General Hospital

Adjunct Associate professor, National University Hospital

Head Spine service (2001-2009) and Director Spine Fellowship (2004-2014), Changi General Hospital

Chairman AOSpine East Asia 2007-2010

Chairman AOSpine Scientific Marketing and Community Development Asia Pacific, Board Member AOSAP board 2010-2013

Chairman AOSpine Asia Pacific 2013-2016

Executive Member AOSpine International Board 2013-2016

Trustee AO Foundation

Associate Editor Global Spine Journal

Scientific Reviewer Singapore Medical Journal and Annuals of the Academy

Invited International faculty 50+ courses in the last 10 years in 4 continents

Invited Internationally to perform live spine surgical demonstration 6 occasions (2004-2012) in China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam

Examiner, both MBBS and FRCSEd (Ortho) specialist exams

Member and previous executive member of the Singapore Orthopaedic Association; i/c publicity for the 2015 SOA Annual Scientific Meeting

Chairman Master course and Organizing Committee, AOSpine combined courses in AP to be held in HK, Sep 2015

Dr Paul Thng Leong Keng

SENIOR CONSULTANT ORTHOPAEDICS SURGEON / SPINE SPECIALIST
MBBS (Singapore) ∙ FRCS (Edin) ∙ FRCS (Glas)

Dr Thng’s work has been duly acknowledged by his fellow surgeons both internationally and locally.

Tertiary and Professional Qualifications

  • MBBS (S’pore) 1988; National University of Singapore
  • FRCS (Edin) 1995; Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
  • FRCS (Glas) 1995; Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
  • Specialist accreditation in orthopaedics, Singapore 1999 Specialist Accreditation Board Singapore
  • United States Medical Licensing Examination 1997

Work Summary:

  • House Officer 1988-89
  • Medical Officer SAF 1989-1992
  • Medical Officer 1992-1995
  • Registrar in Orthopaedic Surgery 1996-1999
  • Associate Consultant Orthopaedic Surgery 1999-2001
  • Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon 2001-2006
  • Senior Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon 2006-

About Dr Paul Thng Leong Keng

Dr Paul Thng Leong Keng, an alumnus of Catholic High, Anglo Chinese Secondary School and Anglo Chinese Junior College, did sufficiently well in school to be awarded the prestigious Singapore’s Public Service Commission (PSC) Local Merit Scholarship to study Medicine in the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1983, only 1 of the 8 in his medical class. He graduated from NUS in 1988 and subsequently entered into surgical training. He was awarded with his 1st Health Manpower Development Programme (HMDP) fellowship in 1994 from the Ministry of Health (MOH) Singapore and subsequently passed his fellowship examinations from both the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Dr Thng completed his Orthopaedic Surgery training and chose to pursue his sub-speciality in the spine and spinal surgery. He was awarded his 2nd HMDP from MOH to spend 1 year to study spine surgery in the University of Calgary, both from the neurosurgical and orthopaedics spine divisions, under Dr John Hurlbert and Dr Richard Hu respectively.

On returning to Singapore in 2001 he was involved in a busy orthopaedic practice and also set up the spine service in Changi General Hospital (CGH). Based on hospital OTM records from 2003-2013 he performed over 3000 operations and over 1200 spine procedures, both open and minimally invasive. An internal audit for geriatric patients (>70years) from Jun 2010 to June 2012 revealed that Dr Thng had performed 85 spine operations (for 70-91 years old) with outcome scores compatible with international standards. Perhaps in recognition of his work, Dr Thng has also been invited and has demonstrated live spine surgical and operative skills in China, India, Vietnam and Malaysia since 2004. Some of the procedures demonstrated include minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS), cervical disc arthroplasty, posterior cervical and lumbar surgery and anterior thoracolumbar surgery.

He received a 3rd HMDP award in 2009 to spend 1 month fellowship in spine in Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University in Boston, USA.

Dr Thng’s work has been duly acknowledged by his fellow surgeons both internationally and locally. Over the last 10 years he has been an invited teaching faculty for more than 50 occasions and as chairperson on more than 10 occasions for both international and regional courses organized by international spine societies, orthopaedic and neurosurgical associations and universities.

Some recent examples include:

  • Faculty, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery 3rd Annual Meeting, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rui Jin University, Shanghai Oct 2015
  • Chairman, AOSpine Asia Pacific Interactive Courses 2015 Sep Asia-World Expo, Hong Kong
  • Faculty, 57th Annual Meeting, Department of Neurosurgery, Yonsei University, Seoul, S Korea 2014
    Chairman and faculty, AOSpine Master Course, Xian, China May 2014
  • Faculty, World forum of spine research, Xian China May 2014
  • Faculty, AOSpine advanced courses, Davos Switzerland 2006-2007, 2010-2011 and 2013
  • Faculty, Chinese Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting, Beijing China Nov 2013
  • Faculty, World Federation of Neurosurgical surgeons (WFNS) Annual Meeting, Seoul, S Korea Sep 2013
  • Faculty, Association of spine surgeons of India (ASSI), Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu India Aug 2013
  • Faculty, Global Spine Congress, San Francisco 2009, Barcelona 2011 and Hong Kong 2013
  • Faculty, combined Australian Spine Society and AOSpine Masters Course, Sydney Australia Feb 2012
  • Surgeon, Cervical Disc arthroplasty live surgery demonstration and symposium, Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai and Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune India Feb 2010
  • Faculty, advanced MIS spine surgery and cadaveric hands on workshop, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan May 2009

He was the AOSpine East Asia Chairman from 2007-2010 and is currently Chairman, AOSpine Asia Pacific from 2013-2016, both elected positions by fellow surgeons in the region. He was also appointed a visiting consultant to the Guikang National People’s Hospital in Guikang China from 2008-2013.

Locally, Dr Thng held the position of Senior Consultant orthopaedics surgeon in CGH and Adjunct Associate Professor of the National University of Singapore (NUS). He was also the spine fellowship director in CGH, responsible for training spine fellows (2004-2013) from countries around the region, including China, India and SE Asia. He was also actively involved in undergraduate and orthopaedic residency teaching, and has been appointed examiner both in the MBBS (S’pore) examinations and the orthopaedic fellowship specialist exit examinations held in con-joint with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 2015 he was invited to Hong Kong University to be an external examiner for these conjoint exams. He also serves as a Visiting Consultant to the Singapore Armed Forces from 2013-2015.

Research-wise, Dr Thng continues to serve as associate editor of the global spine journal. He also reviews scientific articles from the Singapore Medical Journal and the Annuls of the Academy. He has also contributed a book chapter on “Osteoporosis and Obesity in Spine Surgery”.

For all his work and achievements, Dr Thng has received numerous awards. Internationally he received the best educational contribution in 2013 in Asia Pacific award from AOSpine International, awarded in Davos Switzerland. Most recent local awards include the Singapore Health Quality award (gold) in 2010, The CGH/EHA Quality convention award in 2011, the Singhealth Service quality (Star) award in 2012, and multiple quarterly best service awards from CGH.

Dr Thng is married to Geok Kim, currently a full time home maker. He has 3 children, Daniel, Felicia and Edward. His current interests include squash, tennis, and chess. He also runs and swims to keep fit. He worships in Foochow Methodist Church and serves as a lay preacher.

PTL Spine & Orthopaedics

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Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre
38 Irrawaddy Road #07-34
Singapore 329563
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+65 6734 7005 (Appointments)
+65 9247 7031 (After Office hours)
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+65 6734 5574 (Fax)

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