Family Doctor
Oren Gersten, MD
Dr. Oren Gersten is a board certified family doctor who brings his passion for caring for people and building community to Portland Direct Primary Care. Raised in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming, he developed a love for the outdoors, which eventually led him to Portland, Maine. He completed Medical School at the University of Washington, which is consistently ranked as the top medical school for training primary care doctors. He chose Maine Medical Center in Portland for residency due to its excellent reputation for training well rounded family doctors who are ready to take on any challenge. During residency he also completed an extra 200-hour integrative medicine curriculum, which trains physicians to look at the whole person and acknowledges the incredible healing power of complementary approaches to health in addition to traditional western medical approaches. He founded Portland Direct Primary Care with the mission of creating an environment where excellent communication between the patient and their doctor leads to understanding of personal health and empowerment to change lives for the better.
Training and interests
Education
Wesleyan University
B.A. Biology, 2008
University of Washington School of Medicine
M.D. 2015, GOLD Humanism Award
Maine Medical Center Family Medicine Residency
2015-2018
Affiliations
•American Board of Family Medicine - Board Certified
•Direct Primary Care Alliance - member
•Integrative Medicine in Residency - graduate
Direct Primary Care
What is Direct Primary Care (DPC)?
DPC is a growing movement with over 1200 practices across the US. Although DPCs can vary in small ways, they are united in the idea that care decisions should be made between a person and their doctor. Our current medical system with for profit insurance companies can get in the way of that relationship; so to simplify things and offer more personalized care, DPC works around insurance by charging a low monthly membership fee that covers office visits.
Benefits of Membership:
Due to the nature of Direct Primary Care, the main benefit of membership is more personalized attention from your doctor. Instead of the average 15 minutes, office visits can last 60 minutes or more so that we can adequately address your health concerns. In addition, some questions may be able to be answered without an office visit by communicating directly with your doctor over a secure patient messaging app (included with membership).
At a non-direct primary care office visit, you have to work around normal business hours – missing work or time with your family. At Portland DPC, we keep the number of patients small enough that we can work around your schedule, booking evening appointments or even doctor visits at your home. Instead of waiting 1-2 weeks for an appointment, we schedule appointments 1-2 DAYS in advance, and we make sure to offer same day visits for urgent issues.
