Dr. Goodman was drawn to the field of radiation oncology during the 1960s when he saw a greater percentage of patients cured with that modality than with chemotherapy. Equally important to Dr. Goodman were the academic opportunities in the field. “I wanted to leave a mark-- to advance this field of medicine,” he says and after 35 years in practice he remains committed to that goal. He joined Saint Barnabas Medical Center in 1998 and admits to being “annoyingly persistent in my mission to keep the Radiation Oncology Department at the leading edge.”
“To build an excellent program you have to recruit people who are smarter than yourself,” he believes. Early in his career as chief of a developing program, Dr. Goodman was successful in recruiting Morton Kligerman, MD, a pioneer in the field of radiation oncology, to join his staff. Warned by his colleagues that the famous gentleman might usurp his position, Dr. Goodman was unfazed. “I thought, if he’s good enough to take my job, he should have it. I like to have intelligent people challenging me.”
Inspired by the highly technical aspects of the field, Dr. Goodman is equally devoted to the welfare of his patients. “It is very important to every member of our team that we do not go to sleep at night until we are sure that we’ve done everything we can to help the patients under our care,” he explains.
“I look forward to the dramatic evolution of this equipment as the future brings more opportunities for curing cancer,” he reflects. “At some point I can imagine working less than seven days a week, but retirement is not attractive to me. I want to continue to make contributions.”
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Robert Goodman, MD
