Adj Asst Prof Harish Sivasubramanian is an award-winning Orthopaedic Surgeon in Singapore, specialising in robotic hip and knee replacements, minimally invasive joint replacement surgery and sports knee surgery. His primary expertise is in the diagnosis and management of arthritis of the hip and knee regions – focussing on complex and revision hip and knee replacements. He practices at the National University Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and was appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in recognition of his contributions to clinical education and research.
Adj Asst Prof Harish graduated with his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and, during medical school, undertook clinical training attachments with world-class Orthopaedic teams at Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles. These experiences sparked his passion for joint reconstruction and innovation in surgical care. In the course of his training, Adj Asst Prof Harish was appointed as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) and conferred the NUS Master of Medicine (Orthopaedic Surgery). He completed his specialist training and was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) and the Academy of Medicine (Singapore).
Adj Asst Prof Harish was awarded the prestigious College of Surgeons Gold Medal in 2023 from the Academy of Medicine (Singapore) as the nation’s top-performing Orthopaedic Surgeon.
He is also the first Singaporean Orthopaedic Surgeon to receive the MOH’s HMDP Award for advanced surgical fellowship at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital in the U.S., which has been consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the world. There, Adj Asst Prof Harish trained in robotic surgery, minimally invasive total, partial and patellofemoral knee replacements. He also expanded and refined his surgical skills in muscle-sparing/minimally invasive hip replacement techniques such as the Direct Anterior Approach (DAA) and the Superior Transverse Atraumatic Reconstruction (STAR) approach. Adj Asst Prof Harish learnt rapid-recovery techniques for his patients, including techniques to reduce pain and swelling post-surgery. Furthermore, he also received advanced training through visitations at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Scotland, Darlington Memorial Hospital in England, and the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York, U.S. - which is consistently ranked the top orthopaedic hospital in the world. He is also a member of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons and the International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology.
At NUH, he pioneered the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programme for total knee replacements, transforming care by enabling faster recovery, less costs, fewer complications, and significantly shorter hospital stays. Learning from his training in the U.S., Adj Asst Prof Harish also prescribes rapid-recovery protocols for his patients, including techniques to reduce pain and swelling post-surgery. His surgical practice integrates clinical precision, cutting-edge robotics, and evidence-based rehabilitation, consistently achieving high patient satisfaction and excellent outcomes. Adj Asst Prof Harish believes in individualised treatment for patients afflicted with hip and knee pain, taking into consideration the unique circumstances of each individual, and tailoring a treatment protocol that has an array of non-invasive therapy, injectables, minimally invasive “key-hole” surgeries and partial or total joint replacements. Adj Asst Prof Harish and his team have won multiple national service and quality-improvement awards as a result of his work.
Adj Asst Prof Harish is also a certified trainer for robotic-assisted joint replacement surgeries, regularly teaching and training surgeons across the region. He is also an active researcher with publications in peer-reviewed international journals and presentations at conferences in Europe, Australasia, and Southeast Asia.
Beyond surgery, he serves as an Officer Commanding in the Singapore Armed Forces and volunteers actively in community health outreach. In 2025, he was recognised nationally as one of the NCSS 40-Under-40 honourees, highlighting young leaders shaping Singapore’s healthcare and social landscape.
His philosophy is simple: to deliver patient-centred, holistic care that restores not only mobility — but quality of life.
