Michael Peterson, M.D., Ph.D.
Residency Training Director, Director of Hospital Psychiatric Services, Professor (CHS Track)
Sleep and psychiatric disorders; bioethics and psychiatry; psychosis due to general medical conditions.
- UW Health
- Provider Profile
- Recent Publications
- Pub Med
Dr. Michael Peterson is a Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He is the Director of Hospital Psychiatric Services at the University Hospital in Madison, with oversight of the inpatient, emergency, telepsychiatry, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and consultation-liaison services. He treats hospitalized patients with acute and complex psychiatric and general medical conditions.
Dr. Peterson earned his medical and graduate degrees in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, completed his residency and research fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After fellowship he joined the faculty at UW, and has been active in research, education, clinical care, and leadership. He is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a fellow of the Academy of Consultation and Liaison Psychiatry. He is active in state and national leadership and advocacy through the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association (WPA), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the Association for Academic Psychiatry (AAP), and the Academy of Consultation and Liaison Psychiatry.
In addition to his clinical and leadership roles, Dr. Peterson maintains research interests in bioethics, sleep and psychiatric disorders and medical causes of psychosis. He has also been active in medical education throughout his career. He previously was the Psychiatry Clerkship Director and led the curriculum redesign for Psychiatric clinical training for the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. After many years involved with resident education, Dr. Peterson assumed a new role as the Residency Training Director for Psychiatry in April 2021, engaging his education, leadership, and clinical skills while overseeing resident and fellow education.
Specialties:
- Consultation Liaison Psychiatry
- Emergency Psychiatry
- Inpatient/Acute Psychiatry
- Interventional Psychiatry (ECT, TMS)
Publications:
- Bioethical Challenges for Psychiatrists: Determination of Decisional Capacity
- Thalamic Dysfunction in Schizophrenia Suggested by Whole-Night Deficits in Slow and Fast Spindles
- Reduced capacity to sustain positive emotion in major depression reflects diminished maintenance of fronto-striatal brain activation