Howard Bergman

Howard Bergman, the first Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Professor of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University, is Director of the division of Geriatric medicine at McGill as well as the Jewish General Hospital. He serves as Scientific Director of the FRSQ funded Quebec Network for Research in Aging, Chairs the Advisory Board of the CIHR Institute of Aging and is President of the Canadian Geriatrics Society.

He is internationally recognized for his leadership on understanding the concept of frailty and for leadership in the organization of integrated health services for older people.  The System of Integrated Services for the Frail Elderly (SIPA) is an innovative community-based program that delivers sustaining and highly specialized care to the most vulnerable people older people who have multiple chronic diseases with the objective of promoting their independence while optimizing the use of resources. His work in the area of primary care reform is very much centered on how we can improve primary medical and community care to frail elderly.

His initial preparation was in family medicine and he spent the first 15 years of his career as a family physician in a community clinic and several nursing homes. In 1987 he extended his academic qualifications to include specialist certification in geriatric medicine.