Walter Stearns, MD

About Me

I’m an associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and a board-certified psychiatrist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. I specialize in diagnosing and treating a wide range of mental health conditions with a focus on psychotic disorders. I earned my medical degree from SUNY at Stony Brook University and completed my residency at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine in New York state.

I work primarily as part of the EPICENTER team,(https://medicine.osu.edu/departments/psychiatry-and-behavioral-health/epicenter). Since coming to the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center in 2016, my main emphasis has been utilizing evidence-based treatments with a focus on psychotic disorders, especially the use of the antipsychotic medication, Clozapine. I also work to educate others in this area. Clozapine is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

I am involved in various educational efforts including teaching classes to the psychiatric physician residents on evidence-based practices with a focus on psychopharmacology. I am also involved in the various efforts of our EPICENTER team to help disseminate evidence-based treatment for psychotic disorders across the state, especially Clozapine. In addition, I am involved in some of the research efforts here at the medical center as part of the EPICENTER team and have been principally involved in how Clozapine can be used at Ohio State, and used more safely.

Procedures and Conditions I Treat

• Schizophrenia and Disorders with Psychotic Features
• Psychotic Disorders
• Schizophrenia