A native of Worcester, Dr. Jerry Gurwitz is an internist who is trained and credentialed as a geriatrician. He has long been interested in providing better health care for older people. “People who go into geriatric medicine tend to make their decision early on, often because we have had close relationships with older people. For instance, I volunteered in a nursing home as a teenager and found I really enjoyed interacting with older people.”

In addition to being an internist, Dr. Gurwitz is also Executive Director of the Meyers Primary Care Institute, a joint research educational endeavor sponsored by Reliant Medical Group, the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Fallon Community Health Plan. “The Institute focuses on fostering primary care medicine through its research and educational efforts. We do educational programming and our research tends to focus on improving the health of populations and communities, which is also very important to Reliant Medical Group. The physicians, epidemiologists, researchers, health policy professionals, specialists and other people we have here are very dedicated to research and education. It’s a multidisciplinary group of professionals working together to achieve the same goals.”

Since 1996, Dr. Gurwitz has been practicing in Auburn as an internist and geriatrician. “I see patients of all ages, but I primarily care for older patients. There’s no doubt that my work as a clinician has a positive impact on the work we do at the Meyers Primary Care Institute.”

Dr. Gurwitz has always taken great satisfaction in taking care of older people. “I really enjoy taking care of the elderly. I find they are extraordinarily grateful for all the things you can do for them. Sometimes even by helping them with something very small, you can make a big difference in the quality of their lives.” Even though he works with many geriatric patients, Dr. Gurwitz also enjoys taking care of younger people. “The contrast is really amazing because the issues for young adults are much different than for an older person. Treating younger people is also a great opportunity to practice preventive medicine and avoid many of the problems that can occur later on in life.”

Dr. Gurwitz is also very interested in research. “Much of the research work I do involves improving the safety of medications used by older people. These medications can be very beneficial, but also have their risks, especially when patients are taking multiple medications.”

As someone who has been at Reliant Medical Group for more than a decade, Dr. Gurwitz takes great pride in working with his colleagues. “The people I work with are extraordinary. They care a great deal about their patients and their dedication is obvious. We have a wonderful team here in Auburn and a great atmosphere to work in. Our multi-disciplinary approach to care brings together a range of different people – specialist physicians, nurses, case managers and social workers – it’s really the ideal way to practice high quality medicine.”

Dr. Gurwitz is married and the father of three boys and enjoys spending time with his family. He also likes to stay in shape by running and playing tennis and enjoys other sports as well. “It is a little harder to stay in shape as you get older, but for me there’s tremendous incentive to keep at it.”