Dr. Michael Amster MD

Michael Amster MD is an interventional pain specialist at the NorthBay Center for Pain Management in Fairfield, CA and is Founder and Education Director at Wellness for Doctors, an organization committed to helping physicians prevent burnout and thrive in their professional and personal lives. 

Dr. Amster is a graduate of UC Irvine School of Medicine, and completed his Anesthesia-based Pain Medicine fellowship at the University of Iowa School of Medicine and residency at UC Davis School of Medicine. He is board certified in Pain Medicine, Family Medicine, and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Amster is a lifelong student of meditation and completed a 2-year meditation teacher certificate training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. With this knowledge and teaching experience, Dr. Amster created an 8-week chronic pain patient mindfulness program - Pain Management Essentials - and has taught hundreds of patients about alternative methods for controlling chronic pain. 

Dr. Amster is also a certified yoga teacher and qigong instructor, with advanced training and studies in China. With the success of Wellness for Doctors, Dr. Amster is increasingly spending his professional time teaching rejuvenating CME wellness retreats in stunning locations, lecturing on physician wellness, and coaching physicians on optimizing their work life balance. 

In his free time, Dr. Amster can be found sailing in San Francisco Bay, stand up paddle boarding, mountaineering, surfing and watching his teenage daughter, Shayna, play water polo.