Asst Prof Bryan Tan Yijia
Consultant, Orthopaedic Surgery, Woodlands Health (WH)
Assistant Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU)
Deputy Director, Rehabilitation Research Institute for Singapore (RRIS)
Multi-Limb Approach to Clinical Care
An orthopaedic surgeon, a university professor, a rehab researcher and a key leader in cluster, national and international level musculoskeletal (MSK) workgroups, Asst Prof Bryan Tan has a strong passion to combine his interests in clinical medicine, research, public health and administration to guide policy making and transform healthcare through evidence-based, data-driven approaches.
“My fundamental motivation for research is making an impact to patients and society. I find great joy in bringing together the clinical world and scientific world, in partnership with stakeholders to see research ideas get translated into real world solutions.”
With knee osteoarthritis (OA) affecting 11% of Singaporeans, many patients do not receive effective non-surgical treatment and eventually undergo costly knee replacement surgery that could be avoidable. How do you encourage seniors with knee OA to eat and exercise well despite their pain and provide them with alternative treatments besides surgery?
With his vast insight and network, Asst Prof Bryan started the CONNACT (Collaborative Model of Care between Orthopaedics and Allied Health Care Professionals) program in 2018 to tackle this challenge.
This has evolved into CONNACT Plus, a multidisciplinary, personalised community-based programme that aims to enhance rehabilitation outcomes and non-surgical treatment through innovative holistic biopsychosocial approaches combining coaching, peer support and health technology. Patients in CONNACT Plus work with their care community team to co-create personalised goals, attend weekly physiotherapy sessions, psychoeducation classes covering OA-specific management and learn about nutrition and mindful eating.
With its expansion from a single-hospital initiative to a NHG cluster-wide programme, CONNACT Plus is a testament to Asst Prof Bryan’s ability to engage multiple stakeholders across the ecosystem to effect meaningful change and outcomes in the community.
“With rehabilitation brought back into the community, CONNACT Plus sets an inspiring stage of how a healthcare model can be used to empower individuals to be healthier and improve their quality of life through preventive care.”
Moving MSK Care Forward
Leveraging on CONNACT and his position as Co-Chair of NHG’s Musculoskeletal Integrated Care Workgroup, Asst Prof Bryan has inspired the shift of MSK care model from traditional hospital setting to community-based biopsychosocial approach, also supporting other CONNACT-like programmes around Singapore.
To improve care beyond hospitals, he supported the advanced-practice physiotherapy development at primary care level through the MOH Musculoskeletal Workgroup while aligning with the national HealthierSG and OneRehab initiatives. He advocates for a life-course approach, population health to MSK health focusing on prevention, physical activity and mobility.
In his role as deputy director of the Rehabilitation Research Institute of Singapore (RRIS), he has secured over $9M in grant funding and leads several groundbreaking research initiatives as lead Principal Investigator (PI). His work includes spearheading several cluster-wide and national interdisciplinary research projects inspired by CONNACT outside of traditional clinical research into the broader MSK field ranging from physical frailty, aging, falls and fractures. This includes the VIGILANT project, which explores human movement science through computer vision and wearable technology. He also integrated behavioural science to clinical care models and developed the SuPeR Knee Singapore initiative, which employs artificial intelligence for clinical decision support. The HarmoKNEE trial investigates the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine in MSK care, as well as the BE-FIT program which studies environmental impacts on mobility-challenged seniors to inform urban redesign.
Asst Prof Bryan’s leadership extends beyond his research achievements. As a leader and a mentor, he inspires people to join him in the path less travelled. By connecting partners across academia, agencies, clinicians and the community, he continues to drive meaningful transformation in MSK care for patients and the broader population.
“Transforming Musculoskeletal Health for a Healthier, Happier Singapore!”
