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Michael Foti    

Mental Health Advocate, Motivational Leader, Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine & Author of "GRIEF: A Doctor's Battle with Anxiety and Depression"

Dr. Foti is a motivated medical educator, and is passionate about raising awareness regarding mental health in the medical community. He has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from his articles and presentations sharing his own struggles with mental health. He has appeared on the AMA Steps Forward Podcast, Lean Out Podcast, Osmosis' Raise the Line Podcast, and D.O. or Do Not Podcast. He has been published by the NBOME, titled "From Panic to Pacing Yourself". Additionally, he had the honor of being invited to speak alongside our US Surgeon General at the National Academy of Medicine’s Health Workforce Wellbeing Day in Washington, DC.

He is an Internist who trained at Yale New Haven - Greenwich Hospital, and was the recipient of the Resident Physician Patient Experience Award for 2 consecutive years (2021, 2022). This is an award voted on by all departmental staff of the hospital. Since graduating, he has had experience in both Academic Medicine and General Internal Medicine. His primary interest is Academic Medicine, and he is currently Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. Primary responsibilities of this role include participation in the planning, execution, and delivery of the Department of Primary Care Courses and activities. He is also the Coordinator of the Standardized Patient Program at Touro COM. Primary responsibilities of this role include primary oversight of the Standardized Patient (SP) program, particularly in the coordination, recruitment, management, training, and assessment of the standardized patient actors.

He is a member of the National Faculty of the NBOME in the Clinical Department of Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine and Dermatology. Dr. Foti is also a member of the Board of Directors for the NYS Osteopathic Medical Society and a member of the Board of Directors for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, as well as the Vice President of NAMI in Orange County, NY.

Speech Topics

The Stigma of Mental Health Among Healthcare Professionals

My Battle with Anxiety and Depression after serving on the frontlines of COVID-19

My talk details my personal experiences as an Intern training when COVID-19 first arrived in the US in 2020, the loss of my mother during that time, and my later struggles with anxiety and depression once becoming an Attending. I speak about the development of my anxiety/depression, how it manifested, and how I eventually sought the help I so desperately needed. I then highlight how well I am now doing. I discuss the stigma of mental health among healthcare professionals and how it affected me the same. I felt ashamed and embarrassed at my darkest points in life. I demonstrate, though, how anxiety, depression, or any mental health issues should never be seen as a weakness by anyone in the medical community. We as healthcare professionals are as much human as anyone else, and as such we experience loss, grief, and suffering like any other human. I implore my fellow colleagues to understand that and understand that seeking the help you need is the strongest thing you can do.

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