Dr. Chan completed both medical school and an internship in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Prior to that time, Dr. Chan had worked in Washington, DC in the Office of the Assistant Surgeon General, and in the state capitol at the California State Senate. He completed his training in Emergency Medicine at UCSD in 1996 where he served as chief resident.

His research interests include ED crowding and efficiency, informatics in health care, and tactical, disaster and prehospital medicine. He has received more than $20 million in research grants from the NIH, NSF, US Dept of Justice and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Chan is editor of the Cardiology section of the Journal of Emergency Medicine and has authored and edited three textbooks: Atlas of Emergency Procedures, ECG in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care, and Sudden Deaths in Custody.