Frank Dowling, MD Elected Assistant Treasurer of the Medical Society of the State of New York

For Immediate Release 
May 23, 2022 

Frank Dowling, MD Elected Assistant Treasurer
of the Medical Society of the State of New York

MSSNY is the State’s Primary Professional Organization for Physicians

Westbury, NY—May 23, 2022— Frank Dowling, MD (They/Them/Theirs) was elected Assistant Treasurer of the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) on May 21^st.

A graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Dowling received both their medical degree and their residency training from SUNY at Stony Brook School of Medicine.  Since 2004, they have served as Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. Prior to that appointment, they were Clinical Assistant Professor from 1993-2004.

Board certified in both Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Dr. Dowling has an outpatient private practice in Garden City and Islandia that focuses on treating victims of trauma and disaster, emergency responders and healthcare professionals and their families. They also treat patients with co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders. In addition to their private practice, Dr. Dowling serves as Medical Advisor to the Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance (POPPA), an independent, confidential, non-departmental voluntary assistance program for the NYPD.

An active member of MSSNY, Dr. Dowling has served as Commissioner for Science and Public Health, co-chair of the Addiction and Psychiatric Medicine Committee, chair of the Task Force on Alcohol and Health and vice chair of the Committee on Bioterror and Emergency Preparedness. In addition, they serve on the Advisory Committee and as faculty for the Veteran’s Mental Health Training Initiative, a collaborative effort by MSSNY, NYSPA and NASW-NY to train NY practitioners to assist warriors and veterans with post-traumatic stress and TBI.  

When the ISTOP law was under consideration in Albany, Dr. Dowling—working with MSSNY staff—was instrumental in helping a MSSNY led coalition obtain the right for a designee to assist a physician with mandated PMP lookups.  They currently serve on the AMA’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee and Pain Management and Substance Use Task Force and on MSSNY’s Committee on Physician Wellness and Resilience. With MSSNY physician leadership and staff, they are a driving force behind the development of MSSNY’s P2P (peer to peer) support program, where volunteer peer support physicians are trained to assist their siblings in medicine with work and personal stress  They previously worked with the MSSNY/OASAS Planning Committee that developed a 3-hour CME program on pain management and opioid abuse, which is available free to MSSNY members to meet the New York State mandated CME requirement.

As a member of the New York Delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA), Dr. Dowling has collaborated with others to update AMA policies in several public health areas, including psychiatric and substance use disorders, access to care issues, preservation pf medically necessary care for patients with chronic pain, LGBTQ health issues and societal and healthcare inequities.

Dr. Dowling received the American Psychiatric Association’s Bruno Limo Award in 2003 for “outstanding contributions to the care and understanding of victims of disaster” for their work with emergency services personnel after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. In addition, Dr. Dowling received a Long Island Healthcare Heroes Award from Long Island Business News for their work in support of veterans and others with chronic psychiatric illnesses. In 2015, they were awarded MSSNY’s Charles D. Sherman Award for their support of medical students.  They are a co-author of Disaster Psychiatry: Readiness, Evaluation, and Treatment, a textbook intended to prepare psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to respond to disasters and mass casualty events.

Dr. Dowling lives in Oakdale, NY with their spouse Theresa, children Frank, Finn and Charlie Robin.

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Founded in 1807, the Medical Society of the State of New York is the state’s principal non-profit professional organization for physicians, residents and medical students of all specialties. Its mission is to represent the interests of patients and physicians to assure quality healthcare services for all. 

Media Contact:
Roseann Raia
Communications / Marketing
Medical Society of the State of New York
865 Merrick Ave.
Westbury, New York
516-488-6100 ext 302
[email protected]