Wisdom and Well Being:  Making Healthcare Better for Physicians and Patients

Dr. Michael Myers is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, NY. He is a recent past Vice-Chair of Education and Director of Training in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.  

Dr. Myers is a specialist in physician health – as a clinician “a doctors’ doctor”, researcher, writer, mentor, lecturer, and consultant. He is the author (or co-author) of nine books, most of which are about and for physicians and their families, including “Touched by Suicide: Hope and Healing After Loss” and “Why Physicians Die by Suicide: Lessons Learned from Their Families and Others Who Cared.”  

Dr. Myers is a past president of the NYC Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, founded in 1987 by a small group of families affected by suicide loss and a team of researchers. A recipient of many national and international awards, he was honored with a Presidential Commendation from the American Psychiatric Association in 2022 for his clinical research, teaching, and advocacy in suicide. Dr Myers became a survivor of suicide loss at the age of 19 when his roommate Bill, a fellow medical student, took his life.