Michael J. Baron, MD, MPH, DFASAM, FAPA

Dr. Michael Baron attained his Medical Degree, Masters in Public Health and completed an internal medicine internship at Tulane University, School of Medicine. He completed his first residency in Anesthesiology at Washington University in St Louis, School of Medicine and his Psychiatry training at Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine. He has maintained board certifications in Anesthesiology, Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine.

He has practiced in the Nashville area since 1998 in a variety of settings including private practice, academic and was Medical Director of a residential treatment center. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine. His specialty is chronic pain and addiction. In 2006, he published original research showing that high dose opioids increased chronic pain scores.

Dr. Baron was appointed to the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners (BME) in 2010 and reappointed in 2015. He served as Chair of the Tennessee Controlled Substance Monitoring Database committee for 3 years. He helped write many different Tennessee Department of Health rules pertaining the treatment of pain, prescribing controlled substances and addiction. Dr. Baron resigned from the Board of Medical Examiners and the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database committees in January 2017 to accept the Medical Director position of the Tennessee Medical Foundation – Physician Health Program.

Dr. Baron continues to serve on the steering committees for the Tennessee Chronic Pain Guidelines and on the Nonresidential Buprenorphine Treatment Guidelines. Most recently he was asked by the Federation of State Medical Boards to join the workgroups that are rewriting the Policies on Professional Sexual Misconduct and the Impaired Physician. Dr. Baron is also the Medical Director for the Nashville/Davidson County Drug Court - a volunteer position.

Dr. Baron gives about 40 lectures per year at the state and national level on topics related to Addiction, Pain, Physician Health and Professionalism. His hobbies include wood working, gardening and snow skiing.