Skip to Content
800-533-8762
  • Careers
  • Newsroom
  • Health Care Professionals
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
UPMC
  • Find a Doctor
  • Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
      Allergy & Immunology Behavioral & Mental Health Cancer Ear, Nose & Throat Endocrinology Gastroenterology Heart & Vascular Imaging Neurosciences Orthopaedics
      Physical Rehabilitation Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Primary Care Senior Services Sports Medicine Telemedicine Transplant Surgery Walk-In Care Weight Management Women’s Health
      See all Services
    • Services by Region
    • Find a UPMC health care facility close to you quickly by browsing by region.
      UPMC in Western Pa. Western Pa. and New York
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Services
  • Locations
    • Locations by Type
    • Locations by Type
      UPMC hospitals
      Hospitals
      Physical Therapy
      Physical Therapy
      Urgent care
      Walk-In Care
      UPMC Outpatient Centers
      Outpatient Centers
      UPMC Imaging Services
      Imaging
      Community Health Centers
      Community Health Centers
      See All Locations
    • Locations by Region
    • Locations by Region
      UPMC in Southwest Pa. Southwest Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Northwest Pa and Ny. Northwest Pa. & Western N.Y.
      UPMC in West Central Pa. West Central Pa.
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Locations
  • Patients & Visitors
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
      Patients and Visitors Resources Pay a Bill Classes & Events Medical Records Health Library Patient Information
      Patient Portals Privacy Information Shared Decision Making Traveling Patients Visitor Information
      Man uses mobile phone
      Pay a Bill
      Nurse reviews medical chart
      Request Medical Records
  • Patient Portals
  • Find Covid-19 updates
  • Schedule an appointment
  • Request medical records
  • Pay a bill
  • Learn about financial assistance
  • Find classes & events
  • Send a patient an eCard
  • Make a donation
  • Volunteer
  • Read HealthBeat blog
  • Explore UPMC Careers
Skip to Content
UPMC
  • Patient Portals
  • For Patients & Visitors
    • Find a Doctor
    • Locations
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Pay a Bill
    • Services
    • More
      • Medical Records
      • Financial Assistance
      • Classes & Events
      • HealthBeat Blog
      • Health Library
  • About UPMC
    • Why UPMC
    • Facts & Stats
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Community Commitment
    • More
      • Financials
      • Support UPMC
      • UPMC Apps
      • UPMC Enterprises
      • UPMC International
  • For Health Care Professionals
    • Physician Information
    • Resources
    • Education & Training
    • Departments
    • Credentialing
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Newsroom
  • UPMC >
  • Our Services >
  • Neurosurgery >
  • friedlander neuro transcript
Neurosurgery
About Us
Contact Us
Conditions and Treatments
Brain
Spine Neurosurgery
Neurophysiology
Meet the Neurosurgery Experts
Patient Stories
Classes, Events, & News
Neurocirugia
Neurosurgery
About Us
Contact Us
Conditions and Treatments
Brain
Spine Neurosurgery
Neurophysiology
Meet the Neurosurgery Experts
Patient Stories
Classes, Events, & News
Neurocirugia

Chat Keywords List

  • cancel or exit: Stops your conversation
  • start over: Restarts your current scenario
  • help: Shows what this bot can do
  • terms: Shows terms of use and privacy statement
  • feedback: Give us feedback
Continue
Chat with UPMC
RESTART
MENU
CLOSE

Neurosurgery at UPMC

UPMC Content 3

On Topic Video Transcript

Robert M. Friedlander, MD

Chairman, Department of Neurological Surgery

The kinds of patients that come to our department of neurosurgery at UPMC span the broad array of neurosurgical diseases from brain tumors, spinal cord tumors, as well as degenerative diseases of the spine, including scoliosis, for example.

An incredibly important part of neurosurgery is experience and working as a team. And given that our system here is a very large system, very busy, we’re able to sub-specialize. The result is that your neurosurgeon will have seen that kind of problem many, many times and even though each patient is individual, we’re able to take care of them in a very tailored way that we’ve worked on.

One of the components that is crucial in managing the patients is that we approach each patient as an individual and we approach them as a team. It’s key that each patient is seen with a different set of eyes so that we’re able to provide the patient with options.

I know that each patient that comes to see me in the clinic is very anxious.  Nobody goes to see a brain surgeon and is not anxious. So one of the roles that to me is critical is to inform the patient of all the options that are available, inform them of the disease that they have and really how we’re going to tailor our treatment to be able to provide them with superior care

More Options for Treating Brain Tumors

A good example of the strength of our department of neurosurgery as well as the institution is the way that we manage brain tumors. Brain tumors can be treated in a broad variety of ways and I’ll give you an example. A certain type of brain tumor can be treated with a standard craniotomy using a microscope or it could potentially be operated on through an endoscope through the nose or given gamma knife radiosurgery. We actually have the largest gamma knife radiosurgery experience in the world.

Minimally Invasive Approaches

One of the most exciting advances that have occurred in neurosurgery over the past decade or so is the ability to, in a minimally invasive way, take care of many different pathologies that we weren’t able to do that in the past. For example, taking care of aneurysms, doing small coiling procedures instead of doing a craniotomy, that provides the patient the ability to recover much quicker. The ability to be able to see each patient and decide which one of these different technologies is best for them is an incredibly fulfilling way to practice medicine.

The reason we come to work every morning is to be able to do better for our patients, to change the way that we practice medicine, to make sure that the way that we’re practicing medicine tomorrow is better than the way that we’ve been practicing it.

For more information, contact us at 412-647-3685.

UPMC
200 Lothrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213

412-647-8762 800-533-8762

Patients And Visitors
  • Find a Doctor
  • Locations
  • Pay a Bill
  • Patient & Visitor Resources
  • Disabilities Resource Center
  • Services
  • Medical Records
  • No Surprises Act
  • Price Transparency
  • Financial Assistance
  • Classes & Events
  • Health Library
Health Care Professionals
  • Physician Information
  • Resources
  • Education & Training
  • Departments
  • Credentialing
Newsroom
  • Newsroom Home
  • Inside Life Changing Medicine Blog
  • News Releases
About
  • Why UPMC
  • Facts & Stats
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Community Commitment
  • Financials
  • Supporting UPMC
  • HealthBeat Blog
  • UPMC Apps
  • UPMC Enterprises
  • UPMC Health Plan
  • UPMC International
  • Nondiscrimination Policy
Life changing is...
Follow UPMC
  • Contact Us
  • Website/Email Terms of Use
  • Medical Advice Disclaimer
  • Privacy Information
  • Active Privacy Alerts
  • Sitemap
© 2025 UPMC I Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Supplemental content provided by Healthwise, Incorporated. To learn more, visit healthwise.org
Find Care
Providers
Video Visit
Portal Login