About Ear & Hearing Specialist, Dr Rebecca Heywood

Tel: 65 6950 2869

Dr. Rebecca Heywood

MBChB (Manc), MRCS (Edin), DO-HNS (Eng), FRCS (ORL-HNS) (Edin), FAMS

Otology & Neurotology

Ear, hearing & cochlear implant specialist

Dr Rebecca is a subspecialist in Otology & Neurotology, a highly specialised branch of ENT that deals with disorders of the ear, hearing, balance, facial nerve and skull base. The kinds of conditions that she sees are hearing loss, hearing loss in one ear, hearing loss that cannot benefit enough from hearing aids, complex ear disease, chronic ear infections, revision ear operations, tumours in or near the ear and complicated vertigo.

In clinical practice since 1998, and in Singapore since 2015, Dr Rebecca brings a wealth of experience to her practice, having trained and worked in world-renowned institutions in both public and private settings in the UK, Australia and Singapore.

Training

Dr Rebecca graduated from the University of Manchester, UK in 1998 and completed her postgraduate surgical training in London.

Having completed clinical attachments in otology and skull base surgery at the Causse Clinic in Beziers, France, and the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles, she underwent subspecialty fellowship training at the Ear Science Institute Australia and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Australia under the mentorship of Professor Marcus Atlas. Here she refined her skills in surgery of the ear and skull base, performing many middle ear, cochlear and other hearing implant and acoustic neuroma operations.

With Dr Derald Brackman at House Ear Institute

Research and Academia

Dr Rebecca has a strong track record in research and

teaching.

She is currently an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia and Honorary Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Ear Science Institute Australia.

She previously held the position of Clinical Assistant Professor at SingHealth Duke-NUS Surgery Academic Clinical Programme.

Dr Rebecca’s interest in research was sparked as an undergraduate when she worked on the development of in-vitro culture of dendritic cells from haemopoietic stem cells at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester, UK.

In 2016 she was awarded grant funding to investigate the link between hearing loss and dementia in the ageing population in Singapore and led a research team spanning five institutions in Singapore, Australia (Ear Science Institute Australia) and the USA (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health).

Her research has been widely reported in the media. She is also involved in clinical research on cochlear implantation and other auditory implants.

Dr Rebecca has held expert faculty positions teaching ENT, otology and skull base surgery both locally and internationally.

Professional

Dr Rebecca practises evidence-based, patient-centred ENT for adults and children. Testament to her compassionate approach and rich clinical experience, she was awarded the Singapore Healthcare Gold Service Quality Award in 2022 and Best Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Specialist Bronze award in the Expat Living Readers’ Choice Awards 2023.

Dr Rebecca is passionate about ear and hearing health and is considered a key opinion leader in ear and hearing conditions. After moving to Singapore, she co-founded the hearing implant programmes at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Sengkang General Hospital. The Adult Cochlear Implant team subsequently won the JurongHealth Campus Service Quality Patient Experience Award.

She was also Director of JurongHealth Hearing Implant Fund from 2018 to 2020 and has been an expert advisor on the provision of cochlear, middle ear and bone conduction implants. She remains an active member of the Ear Science Institute Australia hearing implant multidisciplinary team meeting (MDT).

Dr Rebecca has previously contributed to World Health Organisation workshops on ear and hearing care in the Western Pacific region. She volunteers her time and surgical expertise to charitable causes, especially for needy children. This has included performing surgery at the Children’s Surgical Hospital, Cambodia, running ear clinics in remote Aboriginal communities and promoting ear and hearing health community events in Singapore.