Robert J. Berkowitz, MD

Specializes in spine surgery. He has advanced specialty training in back and neck surgery.

Advanced specialty training: Neck and back surgery

Specialties: Spine surgery.

Dr. Berkowitz joined The Center for Orthopedics in 2007. He is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in surgery of the spine, and was the first surgeon in Lorain County to perform a cervical disc replacement. Dr. Berkowitz was chief of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Andrews Air Force Base’s Malcolm Grow Medical Center. While in Washington DC he ran a clinic at the Pentagon where he treated the nations top leaders and military personnel. Additionally, he served in Operation Enduring Freedom in the Middle East, caring for many American soldiers, airmen and seamen.

When it comes to treating spinal conditions Dr. Berkowitz employs many non-surgical options including physical therapy, injections, referrals to pain management, chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage therapy to help patients heal non-operatively. However, if a patient ends up needing surgery, Dr. Berkowitz has extensive training in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and the use of a cutting edge device called an ultrasonic bone scalpel. With these techniques patients often have incisions less than an inch long and are discharged home on the same day of surgery with minimal pain. “The majority of my patients do not have surgery,” he explains. “But when surgery is the best option, I am trained to perform the most advanced surgical techniques.”

He was chief resident of his orthopedic surgery residency at the Akron General Medical Center Department of Orthopedics in Akron, Ohio. Dr. Berkowitz received his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. He also holds a master of science degree in exercise physiology from the University of Connecticut.
Dr. Berkowitz is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery, North American Spine Society, The Ohio State Medical Association and the Lorain County Medical Association.

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