Thomas L. Schwenk

Thomas L. Schwenk, M.D., is professor of Family Medicine and chair of the department of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. In 2002 he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He also serves as a member of the national advisory committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Program.

Schwenk earned his M.D. degree in 1975 from the University of Michigan (U-M), and in 1978 completed his Family Medicine Residency at the University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in Sports Medicine. He joined the faculty of the U-M Medical School in 1984, was appointed interim chair of the Department of Family Medicine in 1986, and was named permanent chair in 1988. In June 2007 he was installed as the first George A. Dean, M.D., Chair of Family Medicine, the department's first endowed professorship. Dean is a family physician in Southfield, Michigan, and a former president of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians.

Schwenk is also a professor in the department of medical education, and he serves as the associate director of the U-M Depression Center. His research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of depression in primary care. His clinical interests include nutritional supplements, ergogenic aids in sports, and mental illness and burnout in athletes.