About
Personal Statement
Dr. John W. Barnhill is DeWitt Wallace Senior Scholar, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, and Professor of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is also Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and an Attending Psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Dr. Barnhill serves as psychiatric liaison to the NYP/WCM kidney transplant services and is chief of psychiatry at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
At NYP/WCM, Dr Barnhill has directed the inpatient psychiatric consultation team, served as departmental vice chair for consultation-liaison psychiatry, directed mental health services for all NYP/WCM house staff, and served as psychiatric liaison to the heart failure service.
Dr. Barnhill's scholarly efforts have focused on the assessment and treatment of people who present with some combination of sadness, anxiety, stress, substance use, burnout, comorbid medical conditions, and relationship issues.
Dr. Barnhill's six books include: "Approach to the Psychiatric Patient, 2nd edition" (2019), a text that includes over 100 authors from Weill Cornell or Columbia; "Co-Occurring Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders: A Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment," edited with Dr. Jonathan Avery (2017); and "DSM-5 Clinical Cases" (2013), which is a companion book to the official manual for psychiatric diagnoses. These books have been translated into a total of 12 languages. He is currently working on an update to "DSM-5 Clinical Cases" that will be published in late 2022.
Dr. Barnhill has served on the editorial board for books published by the the American Psychiatric Association. Online, Dr. Barnhill edits the Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma section for the Merck Manual.
Dr. Barnhill chairs the psychiatry department's Appointments and Promotions Committee. He has served on NYP's Ethics Committee for over 20 years and has chaired the WCM General Faculty Council (the representative body for all WCM faculty) and the Payne Whitney Faculty Council.
Outside of NYP/WCM, Dr. Barnhill chairs the Ethics Committee for the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He is a member of the Institutional Review Board at Rockefeller University.
Since 2015, Dr. Barnhill has directed the psychiatry section of the annual Salzburg-Weill Cornell Seminars through the Open Medical Institute. He has served on the WCM Faculty Committee for the Weill Bugando Medical College in Mwanza, Tanzania and on the International Psychoanalytic Association's and the American Psychiatric Association's Committees to the United Nations and on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Dr. Barnhill has lectured or consulted throughout the country, as well as the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Dr. Barnhill has maintained a private psychiatric practice throughout his career.
Specialties and Expertise
Expertise
- Mood Disorder
- Adult Psychotherapy
- Anxiety Disorder
- Provide Second Opinion
- Psychiatric Aspects of Physical Illness
- Psychopharmacology and Psychotherapy
- Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
- Burn-Out
Biography
Research
Honors and Awards
Honors and Awards
Dr. Barnhill graduated magna cum laude from Duke University and received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, where he won the Alumni Award for Service.
He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Fellow of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and an elected member of the American College of Psychiatrists.
Other Awards:
2018 Miriam G. Wallach Award for Excellence in Humanistic Medical Care, New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine
2016 Edith Sabshin Award for Teaching, American Psychoanalytic Association
2012 Nancy C.A. Roeske Certificate in Medical Student Education, American Psychiatric Association
2009 Award for Excellence in Medical Student Teaching, Weill Cornell Medicine
2008 John F. O'Connor Award for Medical Student Teaching, Columbia Psychoanalytic Center
2005 Award for Excellence in Medical Student Teaching, Weill Cornell Medicine
2003 Best Full Time Faculty Teacher, Psychiatry Residents, New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine (Payne Whitney Clinic)
Credentials
Board Certifications
- American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Psychiatry)
- American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Psychosomatic Medicine)
Clinical and Academic Positions
- Attending Psychiatrist - NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
- Professor of Medical Ethics in Clinical Medicine - Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
- Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychiatry - Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
- DeWitt Wallace Senior Scholar - Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
- Professor of Clinical Psychiatry - Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
Education and Training
- M.D., Baylor College of Medicine, 1985
Insurance
Insurance Plans Accepted
The following represents most of the managed care plans accepted by this doctor. If your insurance carrier does not appear here please contact the doctor’s office as they may have individual contracts not included on this site.
* indicates this doctor is no longer accepting new patients with this insurance plan.
- Aetna Weill Cornell Employee PPO Plan
- Medicare
- Rockefeller University - Trustmark
Locations and Appointments
External Relationships
External Relationships
Relationships and collaborations with for-profit and not-for profit organizations are of vital importance to our faculty because these exchanges of scientific information foster innovation. As experts in their fields, WCM physicians and scientists are sought after by many organizations to consult and educate. WCM and its faculty make this information available to the public, thus creating a transparent environment.