Michael Barry directs the Informed Medical Decisions Program (IMDP) at MGH. Dr. Barry is a champion of shared decision making. As a physician-researcher, Michael has spent his career studying various aspects of shared decision making and putting into practice the knowledge that he’s gained. He has dedicated his career to informing and amplifying the patient’s voice in health care decisions. His research interests include defining the outcomes of different strategies for the evaluation and treatment of prostate diseases; decision analysis; health status measurement; clinical quality improvement; and the use of decision aids to facilitate patients’ participation in decision making. He has led prominent research studies, including the Patient Outcome Research Team for Prostatic Diseases, and has participated as a leader in many other clinical trials and patient outcome studies.

 

Dr. Barry is a past president of the Society for Medical Decision Making and the Society of General Internal Medicine. He served as Chief Science Officer at Healthwise and was president of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. He is a Master of the American College of Physicians (ACP). In 2020, he won the Henry D. Bruce Memorial Award for Distinguished Contributions to preventive medicine from the ACP. He previously served as chief of the General Medicine Unit at MGH. As a teacher, he served as Director of the MGH Primary Care Residency in Internal Medicine, and he won the inaugural MGH Medical Services’ Alfred Kranes Teaching Award. Dr. Barry has also recently been selected as a vice-chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force after a four-year term as a member of the Task Force. He continues to practice adult primary care at Internal Medicine Associates.

 

Michael holds an MD from the University of Connecticut Health Center and completed his residency at Strong Memorial Hospital and his fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Harvard Medical School.