Alfred Greisman of Rumson has received the 2006 Physician Recognition Award from Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank. The award is bestowed upon a physician who is selected by his peers at the medical center.

Greisman, who resides in Rumson, specializes in the field of orthopedics and was the longtime chair of the hospital’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery. He was presented with the award at Riverview’s annual physician recognition award dinner.

“It was a great honor to be acknowledged by my peers for doing something that is so satisfying and rewarding as practicing medicine,” Greisman said. “I was overwhelmed by the support of my family and colleagues, as well as the nursing staff of Riverview who partook in the celebration.”

Martin Bier, president of the Riverview Medical Center staff, said the annual award event provides an opportunity for the center’s physicians to recognize one of their own.

“Each year, we strive to recognize an individual who has made major contributions to the medical staff, the hospital, and the community at large,” Bier said. “It is an opportunity to recognize our most dedicated and honored colleagues.”

Greisman has been affiliated with the medical center for 40 years; he also established an orthopedic practice in Middletown. In 1980, he spent two weeks at Landstuhl Hospital in Germany, where he worked with Dr. Herman Casper, one of the inventors of a process that focused on herniated disk removal through the use of an operating microscope.

Greisman brought the technique to Riverview, which became the first hospital in the country to use these instruments.

From 1966 to 1969, Greisman worked at the U.S. Army Second General Hospital in Landstuhl. After returning to Monmouth County, he kept in touch with his colleagues in Germany, who told him about Casper’s research. As a result, he returned in 1980 to perfect his own ability with the instruments.

“I enjoy working with my hands and healing,” Greisman said. “These advances enable us to get good results for the patients.”

Greisman received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and attended New York University College of Medicine, where he completed a surgical internship. He also completed a surgical residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and received a fellowship in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Rusk Institute. In 1965, he started his practice in Red Bank.

Greisman and his wife, Linda, have been married for 42 years and are congregants at Congregation B’nai Israel in Rumson; they have a son, Jared, and a daughter, Gabriell, who live in New York City and Westchester County, respectively. Jared Greisman met his future wife, Beth, four years ago when both were among the founders of a Jewish community center in New York.

Greisman plans to continue his practice in the Red Bank area; he is also on the teaching faculty at New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases.

“Treating patients is a partnership between the patient, the doctors, and the nurses,” he said. “That’s how you obtain the best outcomes.”