Transgender Psychiatry & Gender Dysphoria

Dr Tsoi Wing Foo has an experience of 57 years in this field. Dr Tsoi developed an interest in transgender psychiatry in the 1970s, and became one of the pioneers in the local psychiatry scene, dedicated to the needs of transgender people. Since 1971, transgender patients who intend to transition must first pass a battery of psychological tests before being certified fit for hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. He has extensive experience with transgender patients in Singapore, and has written several scientific papers and a book on the subject.

The current Department of Psychological Medicine at the National University Hospital (NUH), which is the main teaching hospital of the National University of Singapore (NUS), had its humble beginnings in 1979, mainly due to the efforts of Dr Tsoi. In that year, Tsoi, who was a former medical director of Woodbridge Hospital, Singapore's first and only mental hospital, singlehandedly set up the Department of Psychological Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS) at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). The department gradually expanded and other psychiatrists subsequently joined it.