Candidate for 2024
Area 4 Trustee

Candidate Platform

Read candidates' platforms in the APA Election Guide to the Candidates (.pdf), including:

• A message from each candidate
• What is your most important achievement?
• Where does the profession of psychiatry need to be in five years?
• Something about yourself that most people don't know

Biography

Dionne Hart, M.D. is board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. She is an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. She provides clinical care services in multiple community settings including an emergency department at an urban tertiary medical center, a state operated community behavioral hospital, a correctional medical facility, and a short-stay withdrawal management center.

Dr. Hart began her undergraduate studies in 1989 at the University of Chicago. She earned an A.B. in psychology in 1992. After graduation, she worked full-time as a social worker at a community mental health center on Chicago's Westside until she entered medical school as a part-time student and full-time single parent. In 2003, the lifelong Chicagoan matched to Mayo Clinic's psychiatry residency program in Rochester. After graduation, she fulfilled a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) service commitment by working in a correctional medical facility as a medical officer. Three years later, she elected to remain a civil public servant as a NHSC Loan Repayment Scholar. She is a rotation site director for Mayo Clinic psychiatry residents and medical students, a regular guest lecturer at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and the University of Minnesota, and the public member of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine's admission committee.

Dr. Hart has written numerous articles, position statements, action papers and resolutions adopted by multiple medical organizations as policy, and most recently co-authored a book chapter. She is a regular contributor to Minnesota Spokesman Recorder's community health column. Dr. Hart is a member of the American College of Psychiatrists, a fellow of American Society of Addiction Medicine, and a distinguished fellow of the APA.

Dr. Hart is a nationally recognized patient advocate who is involved in organized medicine at every level repeatedly breaking barriers and mentoring medical trainees. She was the first chairperson of the AMA's Minority Affairs Section Governing Council and currently serves as AMA's representative to the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. She was the first Black woman elected and re-elected to the Minnesota Medical Association's Board of Trustees. She is very active within the Minnesota Psychiatric Society and APA serving on multiple committees and taskforces. In 2014, she was named Minnesota Psychiatrist of the Year. In 2023, she received the APA Assembly's Profile of Courage Award and was named APA summer quarter's Mental Health Equity Champion. She currently serves on the APA's Annual Meeting Scientific Planning Committee as the Chairperson of General Sessions.

She is a mother of three children and nana to a granddaughter and grandson. Dr. Hart is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc.

Education

• Psychiatry Residency, Mayo Clinic (2007)
• M.D., Rush Medical College (2003)
• A.B., Psychology. University of Chicago (1992)

Awards and Honors

• American Medical Association Ambassador of the Month (October 2023)
• Hennepin Healthcare Employee Excellence Award Nominee (September 2023)
• Appointee, The Task Force on Priority Admissions to State-Operated Treatment Programs (August 2023)
• American Psychiatric Association, Mental Health Equity Champion (2023)​
• American Psychiatric Association, Assembly Profile of Courage Award (2023)
• City of St. Paul Mayor’s Office, Proclamation Day Honoree (2022)
• Minnesota Governor’s Office, Certificate of Recognition (2022)
• MN African American Heritage Calendar, Visionary Woman Honoree (2022)
• Zumbro Valley Medical Society, President’s Award (2022)
• Minnesota Physician Magazine,100 Most Influential Healthcare Leaders (2020)
• Minnesota Medical Association, Advocacy Champion (2020)
• Zumbro Valley Medical Society, Presidential Award (2019)
• American Society of Addiction Medicine (2018)
• Minnesota Medical Association, President’s Award (2018)
• Zumbro Valley Medical Society, President’s Award (2018)
• National Alliance on Mental Illness, Exemplary Psychiatrist Award (2017)
• Zumbro Valley Medical Society, Presidential Award (2017)
• American Psychiatric Association, Distinguished Fellow Status (2019)
• American Psychiatric Association, Fellow (2014)
• Minnesota Psychiatric Society, Minnesota Psychiatrist of the Year (2014)
• Minnesota Medical Association Foundation, Minority Affairs Meritorious Service Award (2013)
• National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Award Recipient (2011)​​
• Zumbro ValleyMedical Society, Edward Drewery Henderson MD Leadership Award (2010)
• Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, Adjunct Faculty Award (department award) (2009)
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Academic Honors (2007)
• Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, Howard P. Rome Resident Academic Writing Award (2007)
• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Outstanding General Psychiatry Award (2006)
• Philip J. Resnick Scholar - American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Midwest Chapter (2006)
• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shire Child & Adolescent Fellow (2006)
• M.J. Martin Award – Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry & Psychology (2005)
• Rush Medical College Dean’s Research Award (2000)
• National Health Service Corps Scholarship (2000)
• R.E.A.C.H., Inc. Rallying the Entertainment and Athletic Communities to Help The 24-Hour Woman Award (1999)