Getting to Know Dr Chia Chung King

Most of my patients come to me with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, diarrhoea and heartburn. I also look after patients with liver diseases like hepatitis B, hepatitis C and fatty liver.

I was trained in the Department of General Medicine first, under Professor Chee Yam Cheng. My unit later became the Department of Gastroenterology. Because of that, I had a strong foundation in general medicine before subspecialising in gastroenterology and later, hepatology. It is the closest in nature to general medicine so I was drawn towards it. I had a really good time training in King’s College Hospital in London, dealing with liver failure and liver transplant.

I recently met a lady who suffered from recurrent episodes of vomiting. She would have these episodes once every few weeks. Each time, the vomiting would get so severe she needed to be hospitalised for intravenous drip for a few days. She suffered for more than 10 years without a correct diagnosis. I could recognise the disease as cyclic vomiting syndrome and treated her accordingly. It’s been a few months and she has not had a single episode of vomiting.

I believe in being a good person first, followed by a good doctor and lastly, a good specialist. Naturally, I am interested to know my patient well and to know how the disease affects them and how best I can help.

Prevention is better than cure. Make it a priority to look after your health to avoid the onset of disease.