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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

Michael A. Bengtson

Michael A. Bengtson, M.D.

Associate Professor

Dr. Michael Bengtson

Dr. Bengtson completed medical school at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham in 1989. Graduate training was completed in psychiatry at the University of Florida in 1993 and he is board-certified in General as well as Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Bengtson was the Medical Director for Acute Care Services in a community mental health facility before joining the faculty at the University of Florida in 1999. Currently, he is the Medical Director of the Mental Health Intensive Case Management Program at the Malcolm Randall Veterans Administration Hospital in Gainesville. His main interests lie in the areas of thought disorders, and emergency and acute care psychiatry.

Clinical Interests

Dr. Bengtson’s clinical interests are in the broad area of psychosis. In his routine weekly clinical care assignments, he provides care for patients on an inpatient unit that is designated for the specialized care of psychosis. In this setting, psychotic symptoms can be either due to a primary psychotic/thought disorder or secondary to another disorder or substance induced disorder. In the outpatient setting, he is the Medical Director of the Mental Health Intensive Case Management Program (MHICM), at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Gainesville. This program is designed to enroll, and assist in the management of, the most severely disabled and chronically ill psychiatric patients in the VA system. Through intensive case management and high level supervision of living environment and care, the individual's illness is managed with minimal utilization of inpatient services. In addition, Dr. Bengtson’s clinical interest extends to the evaluation and treatment of psychotic disorders as they present in children and adolescents. Through a speciality clinic operating out of the department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, intake evaluations and routine care of pediatric cases of psychotic disorders are clinically managed.

Research and Scholarly Interests

Dr. Bengtson’s research and/or scholarly interests run parallel to his clinical interests. He is involved with Dr. Christiana Leonard Ph.D. (Department of Neuroscience) and Dr. John Kuldau M.D. (Department of Psychiatry) in their ongoing research in the alterations in brain structure secondary to schizophrenia. Additionally, this group is undertaking new projects in the “prodromal” symptoms of psychotic disorders including schizophrenia. With the input of Dr. Keith White Ph.D. (Department of Psychology) another adjunctive component of this effort involves the utilization of binocular rivalry to establish another realm in which the variations of brain structure and function associated with mental illness can be measured. In addition, he also has had involvement with the College of Pharmacy in some psychopharmacology trials involving the metabolic effects of the antipsychotics. Additional interests at this time include developing a Veterans Administration funded day program for individuals with serious and chronic mental illness, this is in the very early planning stages.

Educational Interests and Accomplishments

Educational interests are twofold from the standpoint of providing education to the various programs that utilize the Veterans Administration programs for education, and Dr. Bengtson’s ongoing education. Within the context of providing education there are individuals from many disciplines rotating through the VA service, including psychiatry residents, medical students, physicians assistant students, pharmacy students and nursing students. There are several aspects to these educational experiences, including the routine daily teaching rounds, special case conferences, lectures, and specially arranged talks to enhance the educational experience of the various disciplines. Dr. Bengtson’s specific interest is directed towards the education of the psychiatry residents, as they have made the commitment to develop the highest level of education in the field of psychiatry; in this area, his accomplishments include having been chosen the teacher of the year twice by the psychiatry residents.

Selected Publications (since 2000)

Murphy TK, Bengtson MA, Tan JY, Carbonell E, Levin GM. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the treatment of paediatric anxiety disorders: a review. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2000 Aug;15 Suppl 2:S47-63.

Ried LD, Renner BT, Bengtson MA, Wilcox BM, Acholonu WW Jr. Weight change after an atypical antipsychotic switch. Ann Pharmacother. 2003 Oct;37(10):1381-6.

Murphy TK, Bengtson MA, Soto O, Edge PJ, Sajid MW, Shapira N, Yang M. Case series on the use of aripiprazole for Tourette syndrome. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2005 Sep;8(3):489-90. Epub 2005 Apr 28.

Ried LD, Renner BT, McConkey JR, Bengtson MA, Lopez LM. Increased cardiovascular risk with second-generation antipsychotic agent switches. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2006 Jul-Aug;46(4):491-8; quiz 499-501.

Garman PM, Ried LD, Bengtson MA, Hsu C, McConkey JR. Effect on lipid profiles of switching from olanzapine to another second-generation antipsychotic agent in veterans with schizophrenia. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2007 May-Jun;47(3):373-8.

Ried LD, McConkey JR, Bengtson MA, Garman PM, Hsu C, Rahnavard F. Weight and blood pressure changes after switching second-generation antipsychotics in a population of veterans with schizophrenia-related disorders.J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2007 Mar-Apr;47(2):156-64.

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