Dr. Pensak’s practice provides comprehensive orthopaedic care with a focus on the hand and upper extremities for pediatric, adolescent, and adult patients. He strives to restore form and function and eliminate patients’ pain and suffering. Dr. Pensak is conservative in his approach and emphasizes non-operative treatment modalities and interventions when appropriate. Dr. Pensak’s goal is to encourage patients to make informed medical decisions. As such, he readily employs research-based educational materials from national and international orthopaedic societies, when uniquely developing a plan of care, and counseling patients about their orthopaedic ailments. Based on the presentation of unique patient factors, Dr. Pensak routinely utilizes analgesic/anti-inflammatory medications, various types of physical/occupational/hand therapies, splinting/bracing, and diagnostic/therapeutic injections. His goal is to avoid surgical intervention when possible. You can be comforted to know that each and every treatment recommendation is based on years of schooling, knowledge, biomedical research and thousands of clinical hours and time spent in the operating room. If surgery is recommended, it is because Dr. Pensak believes it is the best way to bring about the most effective relief for your problem. Dr. Pensak accounts for a myriad of factors in treating patients because he understands that no two patients are alike, and most importantly, he tailors evidence-based treatment to the unique needs of each patient.
About the Doctor
Dr. Pensak is an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in hand and upper extremity care while also treating a wide array of general orthpaedic conditions. He is Board-Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) and also holds a Subspeciality Certificate in Orthopaedic Surgery of the Hand: a designation granted to Board-Certified orthopaedic surgeons who have demonstrated qualifications in hand surgery beyond those expected of other orthopaedic surgeons, by virtue of additional training and a practice characterized by volume and diversity of cases in hand surgery.
Dr. Pensak attended Cornell University and graduated cum laude after majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in Animal Physiology. From there, he attended medical school at State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn, NY. As a medical student he became heavily engaged in orthopaedic research under the mentorship of Drs. Shane Nho and John MacGillivray, nationally recognized sports medicine surgeons at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
After graduating medical school, Dr. Pensak attended the University of Connecticut for his Orthopaedic Surgery residency training. Dr. Pensak was hand-picked by his chairman, Dr. Jay R. Lieberman, an international expert in total joint arthroplasty and leader in the field of orthopaedic gene therapy research, to serve as the first ever research resident at the program. He fulfilled a dedicated year of basic science research in 2011 and completed several scientific investigations while publishing numerous peer-reviewed articles. His research would go on to win several awards and be presented at regional and national conferences. To date, Dr. Pensak has over 25 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and is still actively engaged in research endeavors. You can see a full list of his publications and scholarly activities here.
Specialty:
Hand and Upper Extremity
Affiliations:
Community Medical Center,Toms River
Ocean Medical Center, Brick
Raritan Bay Medical Center, Old Bridge
Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank
Medical School:
State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center
Residency:
University of Connecticut Health Center
Fellowship:
University of Colorado
Board Certification:
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery