Susan McDaniel, PhD, Steps Down as Department Vice Chair

After 23 years as Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, Susan McDaniel has stepped down from the position. In the upcoming academic year, McDaniel will continue to mentor several faculty members in the DFM and continue her leadership of the URMC Physician Communication program.

Dr. McDaniel has been with the Department since 1982. She was the first woman and the first psychosocial clinician on the Family Medicine faculty. She has had a tremendous influence on many of the Department’s practice and training programs.

In response to residents advocating for an organized behavioral science curriculum to better meet the needs of their patients, Dr. McDaniel worked with Thomas Campbell, MD, to develop a practical, primary care-focused curriculum based on family systems principles. They developed Family Practicum and published the curriculum as Family-oriented Primary Care (first edition in 1990 and a second edition in 2005). The book was translated into five languages. To further this work, Dr. McDaniel and Dr. Campbell became the second co-editors of the Families, Systems & Health journal, roles they held from 1995 to 2009.

A year after joining Family Medicine, the Department of Psychiatry hired McDaniel to help start the Family Therapy Training Program. She also developed interprofessional training for family medicine students, residents and mental health trainees, to help provide collaborative, integrated, biopsychosocial care.

After 10 years of focusing on this approach to biopsychosocial primary care, she realized that most psychotherapy was not biopsychosocial. Working with Jeri Hepworth, PhD, in Connecticut and Bill Doherty, PhD, in Minnesota, she developed medical family therapy, a biopsychosocial framework for psychotherapy and integrated behavioral healthcare (first edition published in 1992 and a second edition in 2014). This book was translated into six languages.

Since 1996, Dr. McDaniel has served as the Director of the Institute for the Family in Psychiatry. In 2011, she developed the URMC Physician Communication Coaching and Leadership Development program. She served as President of the American Psychological Association in 2016 and has served as the mental health representative on the Primary Care Collaborative Board of Directors since 2017. This group advocates for federal, primary-care legislation to advance people’s health. She is currently Board Vice Chair and will serve as Chair in 2027. 

“The first 20 years working in Family Medicine focused on developing and delivering curricula for our residents, and the second 20 years have focused on leadership development, mentoring and academic support for our faculty,” Dr. McDaniel said. “I have enjoyed the opportunity to serve as Vice Chair during this time, working with Colleen Fogarty and the talented faculty, trainees and staff in the department. While I serve in other roles across the Medical Center, the Department of Family Medicine’s principles, values and connections of the are the foundation my work.”

1/15/2026