Calvin Sim

Calvin is our Principal Physiotherapist, with more than 20 years of experience, with more than 16 years in the field of Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy.

Calvin first started his physiotherapy training at Nanyang Polytechnic, following his A-Levels and National Service, graduating in 2003 with his Diploma in Physiotherapy. He later went to complete his degree with The University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Health Science (Physiotherapy) in 2004 and proceeded to complete his Master of Manual Therapy from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 2006.

He started work in Tan Tock Seng Hospital before moving to Alexandra Hospital, spending 3 years in the Alexandra Sports Medicine Centre and the outpatient physiotherapy department. While working in Alexandra Hospital, he was awarded the Service Champion Award several times, as well as the Excellence Service Award (EXSA) (Silver) conferred by SPRING Singapore in 2006. He was seconded from Alexandra Hospital to Jurong Medical Centre in 2006 to set up the Rehabilitation Department and was overseeing the department’s operations until he left for the private sector.

Through his years as a physiotherapist, Calvin had experience working with both local and international athletes, recreational and elite across multiple sports. He was attached to the Singapore National Under-18 Soccer Team for 3 years, covering the team in the local Prime League and also travelling with the team for their overseas tournaments. He was part of the team that won a Bronze medal in the Asian Schools’ Soccer Tournament held in Singapore in 2002, playing against Asian powerhouses like Korea and China. In 2003, he was called up to the National Soccer Team as part of the Physiotherapy Team, working with the team for the pre-World Cup Qualifying competition. He was also involved with Geylang United and Sengkang Marine youth development teams.

Besides soccer, Calvin was also actively involved in rugby. He assembled a team of physiotherapists to provide coverage for the IRB Rugby 7s (Singapore) in 2005 and was actively involved in providing physiotherapy coverage for the Singapore Cricket Club International Rugby 7s for almost 10 years. He was also the team physiotherapist for a local rugby club and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). Calvin’s involvement in sports also included a few Singapore Standard Chartered Marathons and Army Half Marathons.

He is a strong believer of “Prevention is BETTER than a Cure” and this stems from his personal experience as a school athlete representing his schools in multiple sports and also recovering from his severe low back pain that he suffered while serving his National Service. To achieve his belief, Calvin has done numerous public talks on injury management and prevention and had been featured in magazines and newspaper articles, sharing his views on injury prevention and management. He had also done a couple of live radio interviews on both Love97.2 with Violet Fenying, and 938LIVE, with Daniel Martin, taking in questions and answering them live on air. He consistently updates his knowledge by going for courses, both local and overseas. 

Calvin had also served on the Singapore Physiotherapy Association Committee over 2 terms. He first served as the Co-Chairperson for Membership in 2014/15. During that term, Singapore had hosted the World Confederation of Physical Therapist (WCPT) Congress 2015, which he had the honor to assist in hosting the world’s delegates in Singapore, learning and interacting with the best minds in research in the world of physical therapy. In his second term, Calvin was nominated as Treasurer of the Singapore Physiotherapy Association Executive Council in 2020/21. During this term, Calvin worked closely with the private practitioners of the Association to coordinate support to the private practitioners and AHPC to combat COVID. After his term as Treasurer, Calvin was nominated as Honorary Auditor of Singapore Physiotherapy Association in 2022. In recognition of his contribution to the Association and to the physiotherapy profession, he was nominated for Outstanding Physiotherapist 2022 (Private Sector), which was ultimately awarded to him after a panel review and votes from SPA members were tallied.

Calvin also spent time giving back to Nanyang Polytechnic’s Physiotherapy Program in the School of Health Sciences, first as a Part-Time Lecturer in 2007 and was a Clinical Instructor to the physiotherapy students from 2013 until the migration of the Physiotherapy Program in March 2018. He was also involved in the practical examination of students and assisted in running the student clinic in the school.

Academic Qualifications

• Master of Manual Therapy, University of Western Australia (Australia), 2006
• Bachelor of Health Science (Physiotherapy), University of Sydney (Australia), 2004
• Diploma in Physiotherapy, Nanyang Polytechnic (Singapore), 2003

Career Highlights

• Singapore National Soccer Team Physiotherapist, 2003
• Singapore National Under-18 Soccer Team Physiotherapist, 2003-4
• Excellence Service Award (Silver), SPRING Singapore, 2006
• Part-time Lecturer, School of Health Sciences, Nanyang Polytechnic, 2007
• Clinical Instructor, School of Health Sciences, Nanyang Polytechnic, 2013-2018
• Co-Chairperson (Membership), Singapore Physiotherapy Association, 2014/15
• Alumni Contribution Award, Nanyang Polytechnic, 2018
• Treasurer, Singapore Physiotherapy Association, 2020/21
• Hon Auditor, Singapore Physiotherapy Association, 2022
• Outstanding Physiotherapist (Private Sector), Singapore Physiotherapy Association, 2022

Membership / Affiliations

• Singapore Physiotherapy Association
• Allied Health Professions Council, Singapore