Short Introduction:
Dr David Tan is a senior hand surgeon with expertise in wide range of hand, wrist and peripheral nerve disorders. He subspecializes in wrist and elbow surgery, as well as sports injuries to the hand and wrist. His interests are in arthroscopic reconstructions of the wrist, treatment of wrist fractures and management of elbow injuries.
Professional Statement:
Dr David Tan has developed and cultivated his practice in hand surgery over the past 15 years and subscribes to the belief that the hand and wrist is the highest representation of form and function in the human body and meticulous care and rehabilitation of the injured hand and wrist restores an indispensable function to the patient who presents to him.
He graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1998, embarked on specialty training in Hand Surgery in 2005 and received his accreditation in Hand Surgery in 2008. He practiced hand surgery for twelve years in the National University Hospital. He did a one-year ACGME accredited fellowship in Hand Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York from 2011-2012. Upon returning from fellowship, he was appointed Program Director for the Hand Surgery Residency Program before relinquishing the position in early 2020.
Dr Tan is currently a Senior Consultant Hand Surgeon at Orthopaedic and Hand Surgery Partners – a private group practice located at Gleneagles Hospital. He is also a Visiting Consultant with the HRM Department, National University Hospital, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Changi General Hospital and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. In addition, he is an accredited Hand Surgeon at the multiple private hospitals that include Mt. Elizabeth Hospital, Mt Elizabeth Novena Hospital, Parkway East Hospital, Farrer Park Hospital, Mt Alvernia Hospital, Raffles Hospital, and StarMed Specialist Centre.
With more than a decade of practice in hand surgery in a public health institution, Dr Tan has developed expertise in managing a wide range of disorders encompassed within the breadth of hand surgery, including microsurgery, peripheral nerve surgery and traumatic hand and wrist disorders. His subspecialty interests are in wrist disorders, forearm axis disorders and elbow disorders and he is one of few hand surgeons to be accredited to treat elbow disorders both in restructured hospitals and private hospitals. He has incorporated arthroscopy widely into his practice in the management of wrist problems since developing his interest in that field early in his career and has performed more than 300 wrist arthroscopic interventions to date.
Dr Tan is a firm advocate of the necessity of continued education in medicine and particular to his situation, Hand Surgery. This is embodied not just by his steady mentorship of training surgeons during his stint as Program Director whilst at NUH, but through the numerous courses that he has organized as well as participated in as faculty member over the years. He is the immediate Past President of the Singapore Society for Hand Surgery (2017-2019). He has been a constant faculty member of the annually held Singapore Wrist Arthroscopy Course since its first iteration in 2016. He has been an invited speaker at many nationally and internationally organized meetings and conferences. He has also contributed to further understanding and knowledge in Hand Surgery through scientific publications and book chapters as well as through media publications.
Education:
MBBS, National University of Singapore, 1998
MRCS (Surgery in General), Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 2003
M.Med (Surgery), National University of Singapore, 2009
HMDP Fellowship in Hand Surgery, New York, USA, 2011
Professional Positions and Memberships:
