Dr. Berkowitz arrived in Israel in 2017 at the start of its development of Physician Assistants. He was involved in a consulting role with the Ministry of Health for several years and now he hopes to help advance the new healthcare position through research and education. Dr. Berkowitz is the former Director of Research and co-founder of the Boston University School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program. He is an epidemiologist and a PA. Dr. Berkowitz is currently a Senior Lecturer faculty member in the Dept. of Health Systems Management at Ariel University. He practiced for many years as a PA in neurosurgery. He is involved in global PA scholarship.

Dr. Berkowitz performs research related to PA healthcare services and medical education. He has organized the first ever Israeli PA conference as a collaboration between Ariel University and Sheba Hospital in 2019. He serves on Israel Ministry of Health advisory committees related to PA development. He is currently the Feature Editor of Global Perspectives for the Journal of Physician Assistant Education. He is a former member of the national Physician Assistant Education Association Research Council. He is also a former board member and national delegate of the Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants.

Education and Backgound: Dr. Berkowitz completed his physician assistant education followed by a master’s of science in public health at the Touro College School of Health Sciences in New York. He began working as a physician assistant at the Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY, for the Critical Care Department. During his time there he concentrated on neurosurgical and surgical critical care. He moved to Pittsburgh, PA in 2008 to join their Gamma Knife Radiosurgery team in the Department of Neurological Surgery of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center while he completed his doctoral training in epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Dr. Berkowitz joined Boston University in 2012 and co-founded the Boston University School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program which graduated its first class in 2016. He was the Director of Research for the PA Program and he was responsible, among other things, for the program’s research curriculum which consisted of coursework, journal clubs, and the thesis project.

Research interests include: health services, epidemiology, and medical education in several domains including: physician assistant workforce, neurosurgery, quality improvement, and health policy.

Oren Berkowitz, PhD, PA-C is available for research collaborations, speaking, and consulting engagements. In addition to healthcare journal publications, Dr. Berkowitz recently began writing medical fiction.