- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
About Zack Berger
Professional Titles
- Associate Editor, Johns Hopkins Physician Education and Assessment Center
Primary Academic Title
Associate Professor of Medicine
Background
Dr. Berger is Associate Professor in the Johns Hopkins Division of General Internal Medicine and Core Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, with joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. With an active practice in primary care internal medicine at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Berger focuses his clinical, educational, and research work, as well as his widely read publications for the lay public, on the ways in which shared decision making in the doctor-patient encounter might be in conflict with medical evidence and the political, social, and psychological realities of the patient.
Dr. Berger teaches residents in their internal medicine clinic and medical students on the wards at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and is part of a Berman faculty team which teaches bioethics to residents in a number of Johns Hopkins specialty programs. He is also staff physician at the Esperanza Clinic Health Center, a free clinic serving undocumented Spanish-speaking immigrants.
Dr. Berger is the author of two books for the lay public on doctor-patient communication and on patient preference in the context of medical evidence.
Centers and Institutes
Research Interests
Bioethics, Doctor-patient communication, Role of the primary care provider in cancer survivorship, Shared decision making and patient-centered care, Social media and health
Lab Website
Zackary Berger Lab
- The research mission of the Zackary Berger Lab is to bridge evidence-based medicine and shared decision-making in the context of patient-centered care. Lab studies investigate how to accomplish this in the common case of uncertainty, while seeking to clarify the ethics of decision-making and empirically describe how shared decision-making is and should be done. Zackary Berger, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In addition to his work as an internist and primary care physician, Dr. Berger is an associate faculty member in the Berman Institute of Bioethics, and core faculty in the Evidence Based Practice Center as well as the Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research.
Research Summary
An internist, clinical epidemiologist, and bioethicist, Dr. Berger’s clinical, educational, and research work is located at the intersection of shared decision making, patient-centered care and evidence-based medicine. How to make sense of a sharing patient-physician relationship in the context of social and political inequities is a central question underlying much of our health system’s imperfections. Dr. Berger is using interdisciplinary techniques to explore possible answers, especially among vulnerable and victimized populations.
Graduate Program Affiliations
- Associate Faculty, Berman Institute for BioethicsAssistant Professor (Joint Appointment), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health, Behavior, and Society
Memberships
- American Association of Communication in Healthcare
- Society of General Internal Medicine
Locations
- Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center
- 601 North Caroline Street, Floor 7, Baltimore, MD 21287
- phone: 410-955-0670
- fax: 410-367-2185
- The Johns Hopkins Hospital
- 430 South Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231
- phone: 667-600-2942
- fax: 667-600-4041
Expertise
Education
NYU Langone Hospital
Residency, Medicine, 2009New York University School of Medicine
Medical Education, MD, 2006New York University School of Medicine
Graduate School, PhD, 2004New York University School of Medicine
Medical Education, MD, 1998Board Certifications
Internal Medicine
American Board of Internal Medicine, 2010Insurance
- Aetna
- CareFirst
- Cigna
- First Health
- Geisinger Health Plan
- HealthSmart/Accel
- Humana
- Johns Hopkins Health Plans
- MultiPlan
- Pennsylvania's Preferred Health Networks (PPHN)
- Point Comfort Underwriters
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- UnitedHealthcare
- Veteran Affairs Community Care Network (Optum-VACCN)
Ratings & Reviews
4.8 out of 5
60 ratings, 26 reviewsThe Patient Rating score is an average of all responses to physician related questions on the national CG-CAHPS Medical Practice patient experience survey through Press Ganey. Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best score. Comments are also gathered from our CG-CAHPS Medical Practice Survey through Press Ganey and displayed in their entirety. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 2/24/2025
Very good.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 2/10/2025
Dr. Zac is the best
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 2/6/2025
Very professional. Doctor Berger is a great doctor. He makes me feel very comfortable and is easy to talk to.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 1/13/2025
Very patient and caring.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 12/23/2024
Doctor Zackary Berger he humble, expert, very knowledgeable, excellent advice, very caring and very helpful, outstanding and I will recommend him to any to all my friends if they needed medical attention or health issues,
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 12/12/2024
My provider acts in a timely manner to my concerns and give me good advice.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 12/5/2024
I really like Dr Berger. He is patient and thoughtful and makes sure I agree with the proposed plan.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 12/2/2024
I have never had any complaints about Dr Berger
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 11/11/2024
Excellent in all respects
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 10/31/2024
Dr. Berger is very thorough. Referring me to Nuero.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 10/31/2024
Really like my doctor.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 9/16/2024
Straight to the point, got lab work done, then allowed me to proceed to estrogen, everything I needed was done in a swift manner, 10/10
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 8/29/2024
Excellent
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 8/29/2024
Dr. Berger never rushes thru his visits , he always make sure you know that he's listening to you and I never feel rushed.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 8/29/2024
Doctor Berger is simply the best provider that I have ever been to.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 8/5/2024
My doctor is very caring and he always asks all the right questions. I feel confident that he knows what he's talking about and that I won't be misunderstood.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 8/1/2024
Excellent
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 7/15/2024
Dr. Berger's the best.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 7/15/2024
Dr. Berger is very thorough and caring.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 6/17/2024
Dr Berger is the best, most knowledgeable and compassionate primary care physician I have had. He provides the best mix of care while still enabling me to make my own informed decisions. He also is very speedy In mychart communications. Ms [staff] is always great at following up and I appreciate her attentiveness to my requests, such as making my last minute appointment happen and calling a different phone number.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 6/3/2024
This was my first time meeting with Dr. Berger so it wasn't much that I could answer
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 4/22/2024
Dr. Berger's the best he's taken excellent care of me for several years now.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 4/22/2024
Dr Berger is the best doctor I ever had because he takes his time and listen first then offer medical solutions Rich and my experience with him has always been right. I met Dr Berger when I had lymphoma cancer and he's been treating me every since I don't want any other doctor that's good he is.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 4/15/2024
Dr. Berger is always patient, knowledgeable about my health issues and very professional.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 4/15/2024
I felt like he listened to me. He wasn't in a rush to get to another person. He didn't seem annoyed at all about all the questions I asked him. I felt like I was seen and heard.
- 5 out of 5 starsReviewed on 4/15/2024
Provides the best possible care.