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Michael Myers, MD

Michael Myers, MD

Professor of Clinical Psychiatry

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 of seven books: The Physician As Patient: A Clinical Handbook for Mental Health Professionals (with Glen Gabbard, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Washington, DC, 2008); Touched By Suicide: Hope and Healing After Loss (With Carla Fine, Gotham/Penguin Books, New York, 2006); The Handbook of Physician Health (with Larry Goldman and Leah Dickstein, American Medical Association, Chicago, 2000);.Intimate Relationships in Medical School: How to Make Them Work (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks CA, 2000); How's Your Marriage? A Book for Men and Women (American Psychiatric Press Inc., Washington, DC, 1998); Doctors' Marriages: A Look at the Problems and Their Solutions (Second Edition, Plenum, New York, 1994); Men and Divorce (Guilford, New York, 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 Fellow of both the American and Canadian Psychiatric Associations and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Myers is a specialist in physician health. Until recently, he 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 has produced an educational videotape for medical students, physicians, and their families called "Physicians Living With Depression" (American Psychiatric Press Inc., Washington, DC, 1996) 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 has facilitated a recent webinar three part series on physician suicide and he is a consultant on their Healthier Lifesteps Toolkit for physicians. For his advocacy efforts, Dr. Myers received the 2002 CAIR (Canadian Association of Interns and Residents) Resident Well-Being Award and a President's Commendation Award of the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 2008. He has recently been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Committee for Physician Health of the Medical Society of the State of New York. On July 1, 2010 he became President of the New York City Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

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

Research Interests:

Dr Myers' clinical research interests are twofold. First, he continues to study, examine and lecture on the stressors that are unique to medical students, physicians and their families - especially the role of stigma in the denial and delay of help seeking. Second, he is currently focusing on the aftermath of suicide and its devastating effects on family members, friends and colleagues. Much of his advocacy work is devoted to the policy and clinical dimensions of ensuring that vulnerable individuals are identified and offered timely treatment. He has begun work on his next book which is on physician suicide.

  • Myers MF and Fine C: Touched by Suicide. Gotham (Penguin) Books, New York, 2006
  • Myers MF and Gabbard GO: The Physician As Patient: A Clinical Handbook for Mental Health Professionals. American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. Washington DC 2008
  • Myers MF: The support and welfare of the student. In Teaching Psychiatry (eds) Gask L, Coskun B, Baron D. John Wiley & Sons, London, UK (2011)
  • Myers MF, Fine C: Touched by suicide: bridging the perspectives of survivors and clinicians. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 37:119-126, 2007
  • Rao NR, Kramer M, Saunders R, Twemlow SW, Lomax JW, Dewan MJ, Myers MF, Goldberg J, Cassimir G, Kring B, Alami O. An annotated bibliography of professional literature on International Medical Graduates. Academic Psychiatry 34: 68-83, 2007
  • Myers MF: Physician impairment: is it relevant to academic psychiatry? Academic Psychiatry 32:39-43, 2008
  • Klein, CA, Myers, MF: Afraid to Leave Home, Current Psychiatry June 2009 Vol 8 No. 6
  • Myers MF: Physician suicide and resilience. World Medical Journal June 2011 Vol 57 No. 3
  • Myers MF. A call to arms. Invited editorial commentary to Middleton JL, Today I'm grieving a physician suicide. Ann Fam Medicine 2008; 6: 267-269
  • Myers MF. When psychiatrists die by suicide. Invited editorial. J of Clinical Psychiatry. December 29, 2010

Department Links

Psychiatry