About the Provider

David Penner M.D.

Dr Penner, Chief Medical Officer of Olympia TMS, has been practicing Psychiatry since 2011 and treating patients with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation since early 2019.

Since the 1980s, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has been used to study the nerve fibers that carry information about movements from the brain to the spinal cord and on to the muscles. After more than 20 studies, TMS received FDA clearance in 2008 to treat Major Depressive Disorder in patients who had failed one antidepressant trial. Since then, advances in the treatment and technique of TMS have contributed to the growing body of evidence that TMS is a powerful tool for treating depression.

TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) therapy has been recommended by the American Psychiatric Association since 2010 for treatment of major depressive disorder and approved by the UK National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2015.

During treatment, magnetic pulses are delivered through a magnetic coil to stimulate nerve cells in the parts of the brain controlling the mood. Repeated stimulation of this area of the brain can have an antidepressants effect on people suffering from major depressive disorder.

TMS or transcranial magnetic stimulation refers to a medical treatment that is delivered by a device that generates changing magnetic fields. There are many devices that can be used by clinicians. At present, in general, the devices are positioned over the area of the brain which has been targeted by the clinician. For depression, this area is the prefrontal cortex of the brain. These magnetic fields can create electrical activity in the nerve cells. Not only is TMS treatment effective, the side effects are minimal and the results are durable for most patients. TMS can be used as a stand-alone treatment for depression or it can be used in concert with medications and therapy.

David Penner MD is a Harvard trained psychiatrist who is double boarded in both Psychiatry and the Sub-specialty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. His psychiatry residency and fellowship through Harvard Medical School provided extensive training in medical psychiatry with his medical consult liaison training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, among the top 20 best hospitals in the nation according to the US News and World Report’s Best Hospitals Honor Roll 2018-2019. Dr. Penner earned his Medical Doctorate from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is a native of southwest Washington and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington. He has served as an expert witness, independent medical examiner, as well as a guest lecturer at Harvard Medical School through Cambridge Health Alliance. His private practice consists of extensive management of patients with difficult to treat depression.