Gainesville, Florida
Medication Management in Gainesville
Gainesville has a paradox: a university medical powerhouse in town, and months of waiting to see anyone for anxiety or depression anyway. Students hit the highest risk age window for first episodes while juggling exams, and the counties around Alachua, from Levy to Gilchrist, are a psychiatric desert where the nearest option is an hour each way. That's what unmanaged medication looks like, and it's fixable. shrinkMD delivers real medication stewardship to Gainesville: board certified clinicians, measured follow up, and visits that fit your actual schedule.
Medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA, board certified psychiatrist · Published June 7, 2026 · Last reviewed July 7, 2026 · Editorial policy
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Why shrinkMD
Care built around Gainesville
We see UF students, staff, and Gainesville families within days by video, with appointments that flex around classes, labs, and Shands shifts. Care continues through summers anywhere in Florida and follows graduates into any of our ten states.
Nothing touches university systems or family insurance, because we bill none. Flat fee, published first, records released only with your authorization, and the same clinician each visit, semester after semester.
What's included
Stewardship, visit by visit
Good prescribing is a feedback loop. At each visit your clinician reviews your validated symptom scores, your side effects, and your sleep, then adjusts a single variable so cause and effect stay readable. While starting or changing medication that loop runs every two to four weeks; once you're doing well it relaxes to every one to three months.
Your full trial history, names, doses, durations, responses, lives in your chart from day one, so failed experiments never get repeated. Prescriptions go electronically to your pharmacy, monitoring labs are arranged through your local clinic when a medication requires them, and your primary care doctor stays in the loop with your permission. No controlled substances, stated plainly before you ever book.
Keep exploring
Care and next steps in Gainesville
Frequently asked questions
Good questions, clear answers
My parents pay my insurance. Will they see anything?
No. We bill no insurance, so no claim ever appears on a family plan. What you share with family is your choice, and we can help you plan that conversation.
Is video care practical out in the surrounding counties?
Yes, it runs fine on a phone connection, with phone backup protocols if video drops. Distance to care is the main barrier out there, and video deletes it.
How do labs work with a telehealth practice?
We coordinate orders through your local clinic or lab, lithium levels, metabolic panels, thyroid checks, and review results together. Telehealth changes the visit, not the monitoring standard.
Can you take over prescriptions from my previous provider?
Usually yes, for non controlled medications, after an evaluation and records review. Switching shouldn't mean starting over or missing a refill.
Do you prescribe stimulants or benzodiazepines?
No, anywhere. We're upfront about it before you book, and skilled with the non controlled options the evidence supports.
About Gainesville
Gainesville is home to about 145,000 residents. It's a college town and major medical hub built around the University of Florida and its teaching hospitals. Our patients here range across students, faculty, and hospital staff.
Serving Gainesville
Care should reach every corner of Gainesville. As a North Central Florida college town, home to the University of Florida, Gainesville stretches from Paynes Prairie Preserve, Devil's Millhopper, and the 4th Avenue food park area, and shrinkMD brings board-certified telepsychiatry to all of it by secure video, with the same psychiatrist over time.
What it costs
Transparent, published pricing
Our self-pay prices are the same in every state where we practice. No insurance billing, and no surprise statement later.
| Service | Self-pay price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Initial evaluation | From $295 | A full 50 to 60 minute evaluation, diagnosis, and written plan. |
| Follow-up visits | $110 to $215 | Per visit, depending on length and complexity. Member rates are lower. |
| Membership (optional) | $49 per month | Priority scheduling, member rates, and the Unstuck and QuitScrolling apps. First month free. |
Your care team
Who you will see
Your care is delivered by shrinkMD clinicians, and you keep the same one over time. You meet by secure video with a clinician licensed in your state.
- Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA, founder and board certified psychiatrist (ABPN), dual board certified in psychiatry and in sports and performance psychiatry.
- Matthew George, PMHNP-BC, ANP-BC, dual board certified psychiatric nurse practitioner with more than two decades of clinical experience.
Learn more
More from a trusted source: Mental health medications - MedlinePlus.
Nearby areas
Medication Management in nearby Florida cities
Your next step in The Shrink Network
You are here: shrinkMD, the clinical care layer of The Shrink Network.
Each site in the network has one job. No matter where you enter, we help you find the next step that makes sense.
Get clinical care with shrinkMD
Want to understand more first?
Start medication management in Gainesville
Call 1-877-747-4656 now, appointments are available as soon as availability allows for Gainesville residents, by secure video from home.
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