MD, DLFAPA

Dr. Michelle Clark is a senior psychiatrist with over 40 years of experience throughout a broad range of modalities of practice. Dr. Clark completed her undergraduate education at Hunter College of the City University of New York. She is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. Her first post-graduate year was spent at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (Drew Univ.) in Los Angeles California. She completed her psychiatric residency at the Neuropsychiatric Institute of University of California Los Angeles and during that time was awarded an APA /NIMH Fellowship. She has served on the faculty of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science as the founding director of the Psychiatry Consultation and Liaison Service and subsequently joined the faculty of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine achieving the status of Associate Clinical Professor III.

Dr. Clark has developed expertise in cross-cultural psychiatry, particularly with populations of African descent and was recruited by UCSF to develop and run one of the six ethnic focused inpatient clinical programs at their San Francisco General Hospital site that were eventually awarded by the American Psychiatric Association, Inc. (APA). The San Francisco Mayor’s office, Committee on the Status of Women cited Dr. Clark as one of the ten inaugural ‘Women Who Make a Difference” awardees in 1993. She received another citation from the mayors’ office with a day named in her honor upon retiring from the university in 1998.

Dr. Clark has had an active role in several guild organizations. She has served as Conference Program Director and Director of CME (continuing medical education) for the Black Psychiatrists of America, Inc. (BPA). She was the first recipient of the BPAs’ Dr. Isaac Slaughter Memorial award for leadership in psychiatry in 1996 and subsequent received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. She is also one of the inaugural members of the BPA Council of Elders.

Dr. Clark was a member of the American Psychiatric Association for nearly 30 years and served on multiple task forces, committees and councils. She is the past president of the APA Caucus of Black Psychiatrists and in that role served as a member of the APA Board of Trustees. She was also a former Chair of the APA Committee of Blacks Psychiatrists and during her tenure, co-authored the Curriculum Guide for the Treatment of African-American Patients. She was inaugurated as a fellow of the APA in 1998 and advanced to the status of Distinguished Life Fellow. She received the APA Jeanne M. Spurlock M.D. Memorial Minority Fellowship award at their annual meeting in 2006. Dr. Clark has lectured locally, nationally and internationally. She has consulted on and co- authored various publications including a case in the DSM IV Casebook, chapters in a Cross- Cultural Psychiatry textbook and articles in professional journals including Psychiatric Annals. Currently Dr. Clark is a staff psychiatrist with Traditions Behavioral Health Inc. (TBH) and holds a position as a forensic psychiatry attending at the Contra Costa County, California detention Facilities.