Athens, GA
RICH PANICO, MD, did his undergraduate work in Zoology at the University of Nevada, Reno where he had a scholarship on the varsity gymnastic team. He attended Emory Medical School and completed a residency in psychiatry at the Medical College of Georgia, where he was awarded the E.J. McCranie Award for Clinical Excellence. Dr. Panico was medical director of Advantage Behavioral Health Systems, president of the Athens Area Psychiatric Association and division chief of psychiatry at Athens Regional Medical Center for many years. He was the founder and medical director of The Athens Regional Mind Body Institute retiring from Athens Regional Medical Center to pursue other creative projects in 2012. Dr. Panico has practiced classical yoga and meditation since 1970. He is a principal trainer and teacher for Integral Yoga and trained teachers for Sivananda Yoga. He has taught mindfulness meditation and mind-body medicine to healthcare practitioners in many venues and has been influential in bringing mind body medicine into the practice of contemporary medicine on a national level. Dr Panico is an artist working in ceramics and 2D works on paper. He did a two year assistantship in studio pottery with Rick Berman at Callanwolde Fine Art Center from 1978-1980 and has done course work towards an MFA in Ceramics at Lamar Dodd School of Art at UGA. He has had numerous solo and group exhibits and has work in the Museum of Arts and Science in Macon Georgia.