Board-certified in both psychiatry and internal medicine, Dr. Tesar graduated from Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minn., in 1977 and completed dual-residency training in internal medicine at Cleveland Clinic in 1980 and in psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass., in 1983. After serving as Chief Resident of the Acute (emergency) Psychiatry Service in the Department of Psychiatry at MGH, he did a one-year psychosomatic (consultation-liaison psychiatry) fellowship and later joined the MGH Staff in Psychopharmacology and Consultation Psychiatry. In 1987, he was appointed Chief of the Acute (Emergency) Psychiatry Service at MGH. While at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Tesar was also an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School.

In 1993, Dr. Tesar returned to Cleveland, and since then has been Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at Cleveland Clinic. Since 1997 he has also served as the Medical Director for Marymount Behavioral Healthcare Services and Cleveland Clinic Health System Behavioral Medicine Services. As of July 1, 2009 he will also assume Directorship of the General Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program.

Dr. Tesar is a member of the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Group Medical Association, American College of Clinical Psychiatrists, Ohio Psychiatric Association, Cleveland Psychiatric Society, American College of Psychiatrists, Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and the Cleveland Consultation-Liaison Society. Dr. Tesar is also a Distinguished Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association.

He has written numerous articles and book chapters in professional publications. His areas of expertise and research interest are in anxiety and mood disorders, the interface between psychiatric and medical illness (e.g., epilepsy) and the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders in primary care and patients with brain disorders. Dr. Tesar also teaches and supervises psychiatry residents, general medical residents, and medical students in the disciplines of psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, neuropsychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry and administrative psychiatry.

Specialty Interests