Thomas L. Schwenk, M.D.

Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

, (born 1949) is dean of the University of Nevada School of Medicine, and vice president of the University of Nevada, Reno

University of Nevada, Reno

The University of Nevada, Reno , is a teaching and research university established in 1874 and located in Reno, Nevada, USA...

, Division of Health Sciences.

Schwenk earned his M.D. degree in 1975 from the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 Medical School

University of Michigan Health System

The University of Michigan Health System is the wholly owned academic medical center of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. UMHS includes the U-M Medical School, with its Faculty Group Practice and many research laboratories; the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, which includes University...

, and in 1978 completed his Family Medicine

General practitioner

A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...

 Residency

Residency (medicine)

Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree , Podiatric degree , Dental Degree and who practices...

 at the University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 Affiliated Hospitals in Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

. In 2002 he was elected to the Institute of Medicine

Institute of Medicine

The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...

 of the United States National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

. He serves as a member of the national advisory committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the United States' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans...

 Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Program. He has a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in Sports Medicine

Sports medicine

Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise...

. His research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of depression

Clinical depression

Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...

 in primary care

Primary care

Primary care is the term for the health services by providers who act as the principal point of consultation for patients within a health care system...

. His clinical interests include nutritional supplements

Dietary supplement

A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet...

, ergogenic aid

Ergogenic aid

Ergogenic aids are any external influences that can be determined to enhance performance. These include mechanical aids , pharmacological aids, physiological aids, nutritional aids , and psychological aids....

s in sports, and mental illness

Mental illness

A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...

 and burnout

Burnout (psychology)

Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest. Research indicates general practitioners have the highest proportion of burnout cases; according to a recent Dutch study in Psychological Reports, no less than 40% of these experienced high levels of...

 in athletes.

Schwenk spent much of his career at the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty of the Department of Family Medicine in 1984, was appointed interim chair of the department in 1986, and was named permanent chair in 1988. He also served as a professor in the Department of Medical Education and as associate director of the University of Michigan Depression Center. In June 2007 he was installed as the first George A. Dean, M.D., Chair of Family Medicine, the department's first endowed professorship

Financial endowment

A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....

. Dean is a family physician in Southfield, Michigan

Southfield, Michigan

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 0.04% is water. The main branch of the River Rouge runs through Southfield. The city is bounded to the south by Eight Mile Road, its western border is Inkster Road, and to the east it is bounded by Greenfield Road...

, and a former president of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians. In July 2011 Schwenk left Michigan to become dean of the University of Nevada School of Medicine.