Providence

Dr. Ruben Halperin's philosophy of care is "progress, not perfection." He works to improve patients' quality of life and functionality. "I like to emphasize prevention, exercise and encourage patients to improve their diet and reduce stress in their daily life," he says.

As an advocate for his patients, Dr. Halperin puts high importance on patient education. "I help patients weed through all the medical information and misinformation they are bombarded with," he says.

Dr. Halperin earned his medical degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. He completed an internship and residency at UCLA Center for Health Sciences. In addition, he completed a fellowship at Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston, Ma.

Dr. Halperin was born in Los Angeles and is fluent in Spanish. He enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing and rollerblading.

Personal Statement: I've spent much of my career as a physician teaching medical students and residents. I love the joys and challenges of teaching; I find that it stimulates me to keep learning and growing as a doctor.

Areas of Academic Focus:

Cardiovascular epidemiology
Cardiovascular risk assessment and reduction
Chronic disease management

Recent Publications:

Halperin RO, Gaziano JM, Sesso HD. Smoking and the Risk of Incident Hypertension in Middle-aged and Older Men. Am J Htn 21; 148-52 2008 February
Halperin RO, Sesso HD, Jing M, Stampfer M, Buring JE, Gaziano JM. Plasma Lipids And the Risk of Incident Hypertension. Hypertension 47(1): 45-50 2006 January
Halperin RO. Establishing Goals of Care. Hospital Medicine Secrets. Ch 88. 586-589 November 2006

Recent Presentations:

Teaching Quality Improvement to Residents: Focus on Inpatient Handoffs, APDIM "Internal Medicine Week" - Workshop, October, 2009
Managing Depression in the Primary Care Setting. Internal Medicine Grand Rounds, Providence Portland Medical Center, July, 2009.
Teaching Systems-Based Practice to Residents: Workshop. Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, April, 2008.
Barriers to Colon Cancer Screening in an Internal Medicine Residency Clinic. Poster, Society for General Internal Medicine National Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada April 2007
Prostate Cancer: Screening and Prevention
Providence Internal Medicine Annual Symposium, Portland, OR April 2006
Update in General Medicine: Topics in Prevention. Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine Grand Rounds. August 2006
Cigarette Smoking and the Risk of Hypertension. SGIM National Meeting, New Orleans, LA May 2005
Dyslipidemia and the Risk of Incident Hypertension. SGIM National Meeting, Chicago, IL May 2004

Teaching Responsibilities:

Co-director, Population-Based Health
Chronic Pain Advisory Team

Personal Interests: I enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, cycling, rollerblading and skiing, and indoor ones like playing the violin/fiddle and performing amateur stand-up comedy.