Office of Student Life
Counseling and Consultation Service

Ryan S Patel, DO, FAPA

Therapeutic Style:

As a psychiatrist, I take a holistic approach to patient care and personalize my treatment to the client’s needs using a combination of medications/medical management, counseling, and healthy life strategies (nutrition, exercise, sleep strategies, etc) to improve mental health and achieve their full potential.

I write the self-help blog for college students called: u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness. This has reached over 130,000 page views, and is often featured in other parts of OSU, including OSU wellness app, and on other websites.

I run the self-help educational workshop series to help students use Food, sleep, and exercise strategies for mental health.  This is one of the most popular programs of its type at OSU.

I am the author of the book  Mental Health for college students: Practical life strategies based on research. To write this book I reviewed over 10,000 studies over the last decade and found over 1,000 studies relevant to college students. The book includes practical strategies, life hacks, bio-hacks of things students can do in their everyday lives to improve their mental health.  It also includes expert insights from my decade plus of experience helping young adults apply life strategies to improve their mental health and achieve their fullest potential.

Supervision Style:

Over the last 15+ years, I have supervised residents, fellows and trainees of multiple mental health disciplines.

I have experience in multitude of settings, including inpatient psychiatric treatment, outpatient clinics and consultation-liaison psychiatry.

I adjust my supervision appropriate to the trainee's abilities, personality, and areas of growth. I believe that clinical skills, research, trust, and compassion, while challenging oneself are important elements to improve knowledge and practice.

Professional Interests:

During my career, I have worked as a staff psychiatrist OSU for over 9 years, and I have over 15 years of experience working mostly with college students from a number of universities, and other professionals and executives in a variety of settings including academic medical center, non profit hospitals, private clinics. 

My professional interests include:

  • Continuous learning, practicing, and refining to improve my holistic approach to patient care using a combination of medications, medical management, counseling, and healthy life strategies (nutrition, exercise, sleep, etc. ) to improve mental health.
  • Currently I am a co-investigator of the grant funded, OSU KIND Study which evaluates the safety and efficacy of Ketogenic intervention as an adjunctive treatment for depression

I have been involved in numerous projects, programs, and committees that aim to benefit young adult mental health. 

  • I am a public and private speaker at regional and national level on a variety of college mental health topics.
  • I am a consultant to numerous organizations on developing/improving their mental health initiatives to benefit employees and the people they serve.
  • To inform the public with accurate mental health information, I provide media interviews on a variety of topics related to college mental health. Examples of past interview include outlets such as CNBC, Washington Post, Chronicles of Higher Education, etc.
  • Previously served on the OSU Silvercloud implementation team. Silvercloud is an artificial intelligence based mental health treatment program.
  • I am the chair of our department’s research committee and have participated in numerous research projects in college mental health.

Groups and Liaison Roles:

I am a member of the following organizations: 

  • Board member, American College Health Association 2023-2025 term
  • Chair of the Mental Health Section, American College Health Association  
  • Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association 
  • OSU-CCS Clinical services committee, Research coordinator
  • Ohio Physicians Psychiatric Association 

Education background:

Originally from Oklahoma and a lifelong Oklahoma Sooner, I graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science with distinction in Zoology/Behavioral Neuroscience and attended medical school at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences.

I completed my psychiatry training at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where I also served as a chief resident in psychiatry, and was awarded intern of the year; and received a certificate of recognition for service to the Cleveland Clinic Housestaff Association.

I am board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.  

I am an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Prior to my position at OSU, I served as a psychiatry section chief for Advocate Bromenn Medical Center, and have experience in both office based and hospital based psychiatry.  I have experience working in numerous health record systems, supervision, and management of others.

Personal Interests:

My personal interests include continuous learning, self-improvement, and being a good parent, spouse, and a friend to others. I am a long term investor (public and private).

I enjoy an active lifestyle including weight lifting, running/racing, playing golf, watching/playing soccer (UEFA and Columbus Crew), watching college football (Sooners and Buckeyes), coaching youth sports. 

I strive to be a positive model of health for myself and others.

My Pronouns:

He/His/Him