Providers / Donald Polakoff, MD

Donald R. Polakoff, MD is pleased to announce his association with Mercer-Bucks Orthopaedics. Prior to concluding his 35-year surgical career and joining MBO, Dr. Polakoff performed thousands of hip and knee replacements with superlative outcomes and long-term patient satisfaction. 

In his current role at MBO, Dr. Polakoff will provide Orthopaedic consultations and office-based care. The decision to proceed with hip or knee replacement can be complex, and given his years of expertise and clinical judgement, Dr. Polakoff can help advise patients as to whether joint replacement surgery is appropriate for them, and explain the surgical procedure, implant options, and surgical expectations. He can then collaborate with our team of joint replacement surgeons to optimize your care.

As the founder of University Hip and Knee Orthopaedic Specialists LLC, Dr. Polakoff had maintained an Orthopaedic practice emphasizing excellence in patient care, teaching, and research. He has played a significant role in the development of innovative techniques for the surgical and non-surgical treatment of the arthritic hip and knee.

Dr. Polakoff holds an appointment as Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is a core member of the academic faculty, and has trained over one hundred Orthopaedic Surgery residents in the art and science of joint replacement surgery and patient care. He is an Emeritus Attending Surgeon at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and St. Peters University Hospital, New Brunswick NJ, and on the medical staff of Princeton Medical Center – Penn Medicine.

Dr. Polakoff has served as an Examiner for the board certification examinations of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is also a Consulting Reviewer for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and for the Journal of Arthroplasty. His professional associations include the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, and he is the program chair and President-elect of the Society for Arthritic Joint Surgery.

Dr. Polakoff graduated from Cornell University with Distinction in All Subjects, and was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He received his M.D. degree at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York. His Orthopaedic Surgery residency was completed at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center - Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas. Dr. Polakoff was selected for a post-residency fellowship in joint replacement and arthritis surgery at Harvard Medical School-Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.