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Dr. Roderick J. Clemente
NEUROLOGICAL CARE OF NEW JERSEY | 96 GATES AVE. | MONTCLAIR, | (973) 744-3166
“I’M JUST AN OLD COUNTRY NEUROSURGEON,” SAYS DR. RODERICK J. CLEMENTE OF
Montclair. His jocular self-assessment belies his esteemed standing in the
neurosurgical community and his extensive background in working with
intracranial injuries and intervertebral disc degeneration.
“A lot of neurosurgeons tend to get out of brain surgery as they get older
because it’s really stressful,” he explains. “But I think that’s what I was
trained for, so I still do it, and I think that my knowledge and my
experience reaches back a fair amount of time.”
Dr. Clemente graduated from Sapienza University of Rome, which he
feels gave him a unique approach to his practice.
“The Italians are very, very rigorous about learning basic sciences,” he
says. “We would spend six weeks on head and neck anatomy. Then I
would come home and talk with my buddies, who were in medical
school, and they would spend three days on head and neck anatomy. So
studying all those basics was actually very good.”
Dr. Clemente now specializes in cranial surgeries for tumors, vascular
70 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE BACK TO SCHOOL 2016
abnormalities and hydrocephalus. He is particularly skilled in minimally
invasive surgery using high-tech guidance systems with live intraoperative
ultrasound. In addition, spinal cord surgery for tumors or benign disc disease have also given way to minimally invasive techniques, which has
enabled smaller incisions and shorter hospital stays. Dr. Clemente is also
highly skilled in CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery, which enables him to
successfully treat otherwise inoperable tumors of the nervous system.
For Dr. Clemente, teaching the patient has always been important. “I try
to inform them as I would members of my own family and allow them to
reach medical decisions with guidance.”
“The bottom line is, I want my patients to feel that I’ve spent time, I’ve
empathized with their situation, and I’ve educated them enough to help
choose the proper path.”
Dr. Clemente is affiliated with Clara Maass Medical Center, St. Barnabas
Medical Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack
UMC Mountainside, St. Clare’s Hospital, Overlook Medical Center
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