Dr Kwa Chong Teck began his career as a dental surgeon in the Singapore Armed Forces in 1979. By 1991,when he completed his engagement in the Singapore Armed Forces, Dr Kwa headed the General Staff Branch of its Medical Services and was concurrently the Division Medical Officer of the 3rd Singapore Division.

Between 1982 and 1987, Dr Kwa trained in oral pathology at the University of London’s Institute of Dental Surgery at the Eastman Dental Hospital. He also trained at the regional maxillofacial surgery unit at Mount Vernon Hospital in north-west London. He earned the Master of Science in Oral Pathology of the University of London in 1983 and the Fellowship in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1985. He completed the 160th Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School in 2001 and was admitted a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore in 2004.

In 1991, Dr Kwa transferred to the Ministry of Health to help plan a new National Dental Centre for Singapore. He was the Centre’s founding Executive Director, serving from 1995 to 2014.

From 2004 to 2017, Dr Kwa was the founding Executive Director of the SingHealth Foundation. The Foundation funded healthcare-related research and education causes, pioneering treatment regimes and support for needy patients.

Dr Kwa is a member of the SingHealth Board of Advisors with duties at the National Dental Centre Singapore, the SingHealth Duke-NUS Disease Centres, the SingHealth Duke-NUS Pathology Academic Clinical Programme and the SingHealth International Collaborations Office. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Mount Alvernia Hospital, the Governing Council of the Dover Park Hospice and on the Singapore Dental Council’s Complaints Panel.

In 2018, Dr Kwa was an inaugural recipient of the University of London's Ivor Kramer Medal of Distinction for his contributions to dentistry and in 2023, he received the Singapore Society of Pathology's Award for his contributions to pathology.