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Robert N. Averbuch, MD
Alan J. Barnes, MD
Lewis R. Baxter, MD
Adriaan W. Bruijnzeel, PhD
Regina Bussing, MD
Josepha A. Cheong, MD
Wayne L. Creelman, MD
Douglas Davies, MD
Gary R. Geffken, PhD
Mark S. Gold, MD
William M. Greene, MD
Susan Hill, MSN, ARNP
Jon Hodgin, MD
Richard Holbert, MD
Jacqueline A. Hobbs, MD, PhD
Michelle Jacobs, MD
Mark H. Lewis, PhD
Yijun Liu, PhD
Daniel Logan, MD
Ross A. McElroy, Jr., MD
Lisa J. Merlo, PhD
Sylvia P. Montesinos, MD
Drake Morgan, PhD
Matthew L. Nguyen, MD
Andrew K. Ottens, PhD
John M. Petitto, MD
Teresa A. Pigott, MD
Krestin A. Radonovich, PhD
Jerzy Szlabowicz, MD, PhD
Scott A. Teitelbaum, MD
Herbert E. Ward, MD
Tonia Werner, MD
Kimberly White, MD
Robert N. Averbuch, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Originally from South Florida, Dr. Averbuch received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Emory University. He attended medical school at the University of Florida, where he went on to complete a residency in Psychiatry. Dr. Averbuch served as chief resident in his fourth year and continued his training in a Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at the University. Since joining the faculty in July of 2000, Dr. Averbuch has focused his clinical work in the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic and the division of Forensic Psychiatry. In the outpatient clinic, Dr. Averbuch has taken on the role of Clinic Director. In November of 2000, Dr. Averbuch assumed the position of Assistant Residency Training Director, allowing greater emphasis on his strong interests in teaching and residency training. His areas of specialty continue to be forensic psychiatry, psychopharmacology, medical student education, student mental health, and residency training. He is Board Certified in both General Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Clinical Interests
The majority of Dr. Averbuch’s clinical work is in the outpatient setting where he provides both direct patient care and supervision of resident physicians. In addition, he provides weekend/holiday coverage for an adult inpatient/dual diagnosis treatment facility (Vista Pavilion) via a rotating attending call schedule. His primary clinical site is the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic (AOPC) at Shands Hospital, which serves a population diverse in both demographics and diagnoses. While the vast majority of patients are adult, continuity treatment is provided for a variety of childhood-onset illnesses as well. One area of particular interest for Dr. Averbuch is that of Student Mental Health.
Dr. Averbuch’s interests in community psychiatry have largely been pursued in the role of volunteer. He participates as an attending at the Helping Hands Clinic, a free clinic for the mentally ill homeless population in the local community. As the medical director for the local Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) chapter, he provides physician support and advice as issues arise among group members.
Another area of clinical interest for Dr. Averbuch is Forensic Psychiatry. He has participated in numerous independent psychiatric evaluations, both criminal and civil. In this area, he has functioned both as a supervisor and direct evaluator.
Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Averbuch has invested a great deal of time in the areas of medical student and resident education, which he considers to be his primary scholarly interest. Most of his work here has been to organize and communicate information more effectively to the physician in training. To this end, Dr. Averbuch produced a concise, clinically-relevant psychopharmacology handbook for residents that he regularly updates. He has authored several lectures and presentations for resident/ medical student training as well.
Dr. Averbuch's greatest interests lie in psychopharmacology and forensic psychiatry. He regularly participates in didactics in both areas and added a Journal Club to the curriculum of the department.
Educational Interests and Accomplishments
There is considerable overlap in Dr. Averbuch's scholarly and educational interests. He considers teaching to be his primary objective as an academician. Dr. Averbuch enjoys communicating difficult concepts and traditionally dry material in a livelier, interesting way. As chief resident, he developed a lecture series on neurology to help residents prepare for the boards. In his first year on faculty, Dr. Averbuch participated in a seminar to prepare residents for their Part II, Oral Board examination. He also served as course director for an introductory psychopharmacology course for PGY1 residents and gave numerous lectures to third year medical students during their psychiatry rotation. Additionally, Dr. Averbuch participates as a group leader in the first year medical student course, Essentials of Patient Care (EPC). This is a rewarding opportunity to contribute to professionalism and communication skill development of physicians in the making.
In the clinical arena, Dr. Averbuch conducted numerous “mock” oral exams with the residents to improve their interview/presentation skills. Through weekly supervision, Dr. Averbuch regularly meets with two-three residents to discuss cases and diagnostic/treatment issues. He has particular interest in the case-conference format as a valuable learning tool.
Dr. Averbuch’s position as Assistant Residency Training Director has provided him with opportunities to make concrete changes in both didactics and clinical rotations. He has said that working closely with residents has been a particularly rewarding experience for him.
Leadership and Service
In the role of Assistant Training Director, Dr. Averbuch has worked along side the Program Director to develop a new curriculum and reevaluate resident rotation assignments. He has also worked to improve communication between the resident group and the faculty. Participation in the recruitment of new residents has been another area of great interest.
As Clinic Director for the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, Dr. Averbuch developed a new set of policies and procedures for the clinic and placed a greater emphasis on faculty involvement in teaching.
More recently, Dr. Averbuch served as the department representative to the Faculty Council. He is currently the Medical Director for the local DMDA chapter and participates in the Helping Hands Clinic for the homeless.
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