About Dr. Garfinkel
Dr. Doron Garfinkel is a specialist in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. He spent two years as a research fellow in clinical pharmacology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He is also certified in Palliative Medicine, and received his postgraduate accreditation from the Sackler School of Medicine at the University of Tel Aviv.
Currently Dr. Garfinkel is on a one year sabbatical from his position as Head of the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Care at the Shoham Geriatric Medical Center in Pardes Hanna, Israel. He serves as a consultant to a number of Health Funds (Kupot Holim) in Israel. He also provides private consultation services for Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, with an emphasis on assisting senior citizens assess the appropriateness of their medication regimen.
Dr. Garfinkel serves as an approved physician for providing second opinions for one of Israel’s largest Health Funds, and in his capacity as a psycho-geriatrician, is authorized to provide medical documents for the judiciary, guardianship issues, social insurance claims, power of attorney issues, etc.
Dr. Garfinkel’s Philosophy
Dr. Doron Garfinkel is one of the leading figures in the growing international struggle to reduce Polypharmacy and inappropriate medication use. His wealth of both clinical and management experience, combined with decades in academia and research have shaped his unique perspective and approach. Dr. Garfinkel exhibits the virtues of a vanishing breed of physicians; compassion and ethics in treating the individual person, yet with up-to-date knowledge and exceptional diagnostic skills, and a revolutionary vision of what medicine should be.
Previous Positions - Highlights
- Israel Defense Forces Military Physician for the Paratroop Corps: Commander in the “Matcal” Brigade Clinic (a special unit within the Chief of Staff headquarters). Received an Honorable Discharge with rank of Major.
- Senior Physician: Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel, Acting Head of the Department of Internal Medicine.
- Head: Department of Geriatrics, Maccabi Health Fund Assisted Living “Meonot Macabi” in Bat Yam, Israel
- Head: Maccabi Health Fund’s Home Care Unit for the Central District.
Research Background - Highlights
- Basic research at the Department of Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
- Two year Research Fellow at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, California, USA. His main area of research concentrated on drug elimination from the body, serum blood levels and drug interactions.
- Principal investigator of a bi-national, multi-center research project testing “The Efficacy & Safety of Controlled Resease Melatonin in Sleep Disorders in Adults”. The investigated compound, CIRCADIN, was approved for use in Europe and is distributed in Israel by the Teva Company.
- Additional clinical research focuses on a variety of geriatric issues such as nutrition, sleep disorders, osteoporosis and hip fractures, pressure sores and end-of-life-care; and, primarily, dealing with the issue of polypharmacy in the elderly.
Academic Background - Highlights
- Over 30 years experience giving instruction and lectures to physicians, nurses, medical students and various health care professionals at the Tel Aviv University, the Technion University in Haifa, and several other colleges.
- Published several dozen original articles on a variety of Geriatric topics including Palliative Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology, in some of the world’s leading medical journals such as Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Archives of Internal Medicine.
- Presented over 150 lectures and posters in local numerous Israeli and international conferences and played an integral role in organizing 12 national conferences of the Association for Geriatric Medicine, and a number of “The Third Age” conferences for the Israeli Gerontological Society.
- Chairman, for three successive conferences of “The Society for the Inhibition of Age-related Processes”, in addition to serving as chairman three times for the annual conference “T’micha” – the Israeli Association of Palliative Care (www.Palliative.org.il)
Membership in Organizations
- Founder (1995) and current Chair, Society for the Inhibition of Age-related Processes
- Member, Israel Association of Gerontology (since 1986)
- Member & acting member of the Board of Directors, “Tmicha” – Israel Association of Palliative Care (since 2000)
- Member, Israel Association of Geriatric Medicine (since 1996)
- Member of the International Association of Gerontology & Geriatrics (IAGG) (since 1993)
- Member, European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC) (since 2000)
Awards and Grants
- Award for Efficiency and Economy (No. 8452), Israel Defense Ministry – 1977
- Best Poster Award (twice), Israel Association of Gerontology (1999, 2003)
- Research grant (2 years) in Clinical pharmacology at Stanford University Medical Center on "Cell membrane transport mechanisms, Drug binding to plasma proteins and drug interactions".
- Research grant, Israel Health Ministry Chief Scientist for “The effect of prolonged zinc supplementation on age-related changes in middle age people" (Wolfson Medical Center, Holon).