Adj Assoc Prof Kong completed his undergraduate medical training at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1995. He subsequently pursued advanced speciality training in rheumatology at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Southeast Asia between 1999 and 2002. He has been the Head of the Department of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology at Tan Tock Seng Hospital since 2017.
He has been interested in ultrasonography since he was a medical officer at Sarawak General Hospital, Kuching, Malaysia, in the late 1990s. He learned echocardiography and abdominal ultrasound from cardiologists and radiologists during those years. After completing his rheumatology training, he became interested in musculoskeletal and rheumatology ultrasonography. He worked closely with the in-house musculoskeletal radiologists. He won the Southeast Asia Health Manpower Development Programme Fellowship Award in 2003 to further his interest in rheumatology ultrasonography at the Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease, Department of Rheumatology, Leeds General Infirmary (University of Leeds), Leeds, United Kingdom, under Prof. Paul Emery and Dr Richard Wakefield. On return from Leeds, he set up Southeast Asia’s first dedicated rheumatology ultrasound service in 2004. Since then, he has trained many rheumatologists in rheumatology ultrasonography in Southeast Asia and regionally. He led a small group of local rheumatologists in preparing the musculoskeletal ultrasound curriculum and training for credentialing under the auspices of the Chapter of the Rheumatologists Academy of Medicine, Southeast Asia, in 2019. He kept up with the development of the field of rheumatology ultrasonography. He extended his interest to ultrasound use in the diagnosis/management of vasculitis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and interstitial lung diseases. He had been invited to be a speaker and faculty member for rheumatology ultrasound training at regional meetings. He is currently the convener of the Imaging Special Interest Group of APLAR.
His other research interests include systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren’s syndrome, gout, and vasculitis. He has published many research papers and presented numerous abstracts in international meetings.
