Waltham, MA - Dr. John A. Renner, a psychiatrist at
Boston Medical Center (BMC), has been honored by the Massachusetts
Medical Society as the 2019 recipient of the society’s Special Award for
Excellence in Medical Service.
The award honors a physician who has made a
distinguished demonstration of compassion and dedication to the medical
needs of his or her patients and the general public.
Dr. Renner is renowned for his dedication to
caring for adults and adolescents with substance use disorder (SUD) and
has shared his knowledge with countless clinicians.
“I can think of no individual who has been more
effective, and touched more trainees, on the compassionate and technical
care of SUD,” said Dr. Timothy E. Wilens of Mass. General Hospital.
“Dr. Renner has been involved in almost every
local, regional, and national initiative to promote education around
SUD.”
Dr. Renner has a reputation for his work in
reducing stigma around substance use disorder and for the compassion
with he treats patients struggling with the disease.
“Dr. Renner humanized people with addiction
disorders; made generations of physicians see these patients as
deserving of treatment as all others; trained countless physicians in
evidence-based, compassionate, and competent care improving
the lives of patients and families; and changed cultural and medical
attitudes regarding this unrecognized, undertreated, and stigmatized
patient population,” Dr. Janet Osterman of Harvard Vanguard Medical
Associates/Atrius Health said.
Renner is a professor of psychiatry at Boston
University School of Medicine, director of the BMC Addiction Psychiatry
Residency, associate director of the BMC General Psychiatry Residency
Program, and serves the VA Boston Healthcare System
as associate chief of psychiatry.
Renner graduated from Case-Western Reserve University.
