Staff Profile: Faith Chia: Doctor, Mentor, Mother – and Still in Time for the Music

By Edwin Ong, Assistant Director, Communications and Outreach

Associate Professor Faith Chia Li-Ann’s day regularly begins before dawn. By 5am, she is up and about - preparing meals, carving out a quiet moment for mindfulness, even fitting in time for a jog or journal post - before stepping into her many roles: Vice-Dean (Education) at LKCMedicine, Senior Consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Education Director at NHG Health, President of Singapore’s College of Physicians, and perhaps most important of all, a mother.

To call her schedule “full” would be an understatement. But Assoc Prof Chia wears her many hats with the kind of grace that makes it all seem deceptively seamless. “Motherhood made me realise I had to be intentional with my time,” she says with calm conviction. “That’s helped me in the different roles I have at work. I make sure that I use my time efficiently, planning out my tasks and schedule for each week.”

Assoc Prof Faith Chia with her pillars of strength - husband Bernard Leung and daughters Sarah Anne Leung (with glasses) and Hannah Leung.

An Unexpected Path into Education

Assoc Prof Chia didn’t set out to become an educator. In fact, the earlier part of her career pointed towards research and administration. “I had received an NMRC NIG grant and was set to take on more administrative responsibilities,” she recalls. But when the internal medicine programme director role opened up at NHG Health, she accepted it, initially thinking it was temporary.

“That short detour,” she laughs, “turned out to be such a fulfilling path and I haven’t looked back since. It seems like I’ll follow it to the end!” 

Today, in her role as Vice-Dean of Education, she is helping to shape the next generation of doctors at LKCMedicine – which gives her the same gratification as when she makes a difference in her patients’ lives. 

“It means a lot to me that I get to journey with my patients and share in their hopes and worries. But while as a doctor I can touch one life at a time,” she reflects, “as an educator, I am able to contribute to building a whole generation of doctors who will go on to care for so many more. It’s especially fulfilling for me when my former students excel and surpass me.”

A Childhood Inspiration

Assoc Prof Chia’s ambition to be a doctor was cultivated long before medical school, when a childhood doctor became both her motivation and mentor. 

“I was inspired by my paediatrician Professor Yap Hui Kim who had taken care of me since I was little (and who takes care of my children now). She was a true role model as a brilliant clinician and scientist, in how she genuinely cared for her patients, and how she mentored me even when I hadn’t gone into medical school yet. I was really blessed to have the opportunity to shadow her in her lab and in the wards over the years.”

From one generation to the next - Prof Yap Hui Kim was Assoc Prof Chia’s paediatrician when she was little, and now cares for Sarah and Hannah.

Medicine, for her, was the perfect marriage of science and humanism - “the rigour behind the biomedical sciences, therapeutics etc, and yet having to hone very humane skills of communication, compassion, empathy and reasoning.” She is constantly in awe that “no patient fits the textbook description and that there is so much we don't understand in medicine.”

She could not hide her smile though, as she remarked – “I didn't think I could tolerate a desk job. How ironic, since I spend a lot of time at various desks now!’

Life at Home: A Different Kind of Leadership

At home, Assoc Prof Chia is simply "Mama" - although even here, the lines between work and life occasionally blur.

But there are poignant moments too. “When my eldest was about four, her birthday wish was that I could take leave to spend more time with her. That really triggered the mum-guilt.” 

She makes diligent efforts amidst her busy schedule, and manages to find joy in the little rituals with her family – having dinner together is a priority, concert and museum outings, and lazy afternoons reading in cafés with her bookworm elder daughter. Her love for the arts has become a shared family hobby. “We’ve been attending classical concerts since the kids were in kindergarten. By six or seven, they were already sitting through full symphony works with me.”

Assoc Prof Chia accompanied on piano at Sarah’s violin recital in 2024.

And while one of her daughters once said she wanted to be a rheumatologist like her Mama, “she’s changed her mind now and wants to be a lawyer,” Assoc Prof Chia quips. 

Secrets to Balance (and Sanity)

So how does she do it?

Assoc Prof Chia gives full credit to her ‘village’ - her family and her colleagues.

“My husband and children are extremely supportive of my work, and this is really essential. They’re proud of what I do, and that allows me to continue without being torn between them and work.” 

Even if that means they have to go without the warmth of home-cooked food occasionally. “I wake up early to cook because we don’t have a helper. When there’s an LKCMedicine dinner event, it means no home-cooked food for the kids!” 

She is equally grateful for the support from her colleagues and bosses at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. “My children have attended scientific conferences, and they have always been welcomed at hospital events. I’ve given lectures with them in baby slings. I even have a photo of my daughter at a steering committee meeting,” she shares with a smile.

Sarah was the special guest at a Chapter of Rheumatologists steering committee meeting in 2013.

She has another secret weapon - mindfulness and a personal system of organisation. “The ‘getting things done’ method really helped over the years.”

She also gamely shared advice from a senior doctor, which has become her personal ethos:

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help to take care of your family. Say yes when offered! It really takes a village to raise a child. Or two.”

“Don’t be afraid to set boundaries for your family time.”

Which includes time for herself – “I have sung in choirs since I was little, and I went on to take part in competitions through medical school. I did take a little break when the kids were younger; I’m currently singing with The Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Our next performance is coming up on 5 September, if anyone’s interested to come!”

Assoc Prof Chia performing with the Philharmonic Chamber Choir in 2013. Try spotting her!

Her message to other doctor-mothers is simple but powerful: “You can do it, really! But know what you’re saying yes to, and make sure it aligns with your values, so they are worthwhile doing. And because there will be sacrifices along the way.” 

Leadership and Legacy

As Vice-Dean of Education at LKCMedicine, Assoc Prof Chia brings that same thoughtfulness to her leadership.

“I would like LKCMedicine to have a flat hierarchy where students and faculty engage meaningfully. After all, our students will become our colleagues - we’re shaping not just doctors, but future peers who will have the same sense of purpose.”

She wants to train LKCMedicine graduates “who have strong values and sense of public ethos, and truly care for their patients”. “When a senior doctor learns they’re working with an LKCMedicine junior, I want them to feel confident in his or her competence and compassion.”

Assoc Prof Chia believes faculty and students should get to sit at the same table in order to engage meaningfully.

A Life Without Regret

If she could live her life all over again?

“I would choose the same path. No regrets. The fulfilment I’ve found - both in medicine and in mentoring - is worth every sacrifice.” 

Assoc Prof Chia is candid when musing on her raison d'être – “I have been blessed with skills that can fulfil deep needs of this world, and so will use them wholeheartedly when called to do so.”

And if she could go back and give her younger self some advice?

“I’d tell her to chill a bit more. To spend more time with family and friends. It feels like there’s so much to do! After graduation, I got into training immediately and did my MRCP quite early. But in hindsight, a year or two really wouldn’t make a lot of difference over a 20-year career.”

Assoc Prof Chia buried herself with books (and food) during her medical school days back in 2000.

Looking Ahead

As she continues to shape the future of medical education and healthcare in Singapore, Assoc Prof Chia remains grounded in the things that matter most: her values, her family, and the quiet conviction that making a difference - whether to one patient or an entire generation - is worth every early morning. 

“I think,” she says as we conclude our chat, “that when I look back at the end of my career, I’d like to be seen as someone who have made a difference in the lives of others, and done the right thing, even when it was difficult.”