Dr. Michael Myers, MD

Dr. Myers is the immediate past Vice-Chair of Education and Director of Training in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. He is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the same institution where he continues to teach and serve on the Medical School Admissions Committee. He is also medical student Ombudsman.

Dr Myers graduated in medicine from the University of Western Ontario in 1966 and did residencies at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Wayne State University (Detroit General Hospital), and the University of British Columbia. After completing his residency training in 1973 and until 2008, he taught half-time at UBC and was in private practice half-time in Vancouver. He is board certified in Psychiatry by both the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada and the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology.

Dr. Myers is the author (or co-author) of eight books: Why Physicians Die by Suicide: Lessons Learned From Their Families and Others Who Cared (Amazon 2017); The Physician As Patient: A Clinical Handbook for Mental Health Professionals (with Glen Gabbard, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2008); Touched By Suicide: Hope and Healing After Loss (with Carla Fine, Gotham/Penguin Books, 2006); The Handbook of Physician Health (with Larry Goldman and Leah Dickstein, American Medical Association, 2000);.Intimate Relationships in Medical School: How to Make Them Work (Sage Publications, 2000); How’s Your Marriage? A Book for Men and Women (American Psychiatric Press Inc., 1998); Doctors’ Marriages: A Look at the Problems and Their Solutions (Second Edition, Plenum, 1994); Men and Divorce (Guilford, 1989). His publications also include over 150 articles, book chapters, letters, book reviews and 8 videotapes covering a range of topics: marital therapy, men and reproductive technology, divorce, sexual assault of women and men, AIDS, the stigma of psychiatric illness, gender issues in training and medical practice, the treatment of medical students and physicians, boundary crossing in the doctor-patient relationship, and suicide.

Dr. Myers has received awards for excellence in teaching from the University of British Columbia, the Dr. Nancy Roeske Award from the American Psychiatric Association, the Distinguished Member Lecture Award and the RO Jones Memorial Lecture Award from the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Douglas Utting Award from McGill University, the Distinguished Leader in Medicine Award from Dalhousie University and a number of other named lectureships in Canada and the United States. From 1997 - 2000, he served on the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association and from 2000 – 2001 he was President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. He also completed a six year term on the Editorial Board of American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of both the American and Canadian Psychiatric Associations and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and the Royal Society of Medicine (England). He is the immediate Past President of the New York City Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and remains an emeritus board member.

As a specialist in physician health, Dr Myers has served on the Advisory Board of the Center for Physician Health of the Canadian Medical Association, the Section on Physician Health of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and the Committee on Physician Health, Illness, and Impairment of the American Psychiatric Association. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Committee for Physician Health of the Medical Society of the State of New York. He has produced an educational videotape for medical students, physicians, and their families called “Physicians Living With Depression” and his videotape “When Physicians Die By Suicide: Reflections of Those They Leave Behind” won the 1999 APA Psychiatric Services Award. With the American Medical Association he facilitated a webinar three part series on physician suicide. For his advocacy efforts, Dr. Myers received the 2002 CAIR (Canadian Association of Interns and Residents) Resident Well-Being Award, a President’s Commendation Award of the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 2008 and the Doctors of British Columbia Honorary Member Award in 2015.

Dr. Myers lectures extensively throughout North America and beyond. His website is: www.michaelfmyers.com