Dr. Debra Zimring, a board-certified family physician who is also board certified in addiction medicine, received her medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1996. Following graduation from medical school, she completed a residency in family medicine at Albany Medical Center. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Prior to medical school, Dr. Zimring earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science at the Pennsylvania State University and her Doctor of Philosophy in genetics from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical.
Before joining Community Care, Dr. Zimring held an appointment as an assistant professor and was an attending physician for Albany Medical Center in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. She continued as a physician with Community Care when the Albany Medical Center practice merged with Community Care. Dr. Zimring left Community Care in 2000 for a position with Columbia Memorial Hospital’s Valatie Family Practice. She returned to the Capital Region in 2007 when she joined the CapitalCare medical group, which has since merged with Community Care. In addition to her medical practice, Dr. Zimring served nine years as an active member of the board of directors of the Alliance for Positive Health (formerly the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York).
Dr. Zimring sees patients at the CapitalCare Family Practice Slingerlands office. As she particularly enjoys developing long-standing, collaborative relationships with her patients, she has had a number of patients under her care for more than 20 years. Her practice emphasizes preventative medicine and the development of a healthy lifestyle. Her extensive training in addiction medicine allows her to help many of her patients overcome destructive habits that patients could not combat on their own successfully. Outside of Community Care, Dr. Zimring treats patients suffering from severe addiction and withdrawal issues in St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center (SPARC) acute detox unit. She also serves as a medical review officer reviewing drug test results for individuals in safety-sensitive jobs.
In her spare time, Dr. Zimring stays physically active with structured exercise, karate (she earned her black belt in 2014), kayaking, golfing, and walking Penny, the world’s cutest dog. Her creative interests include baking (Dr. Zimring excels at creating gluten-free desserts that cannot be identified as gluten-free), photography, and painting. She moved to Albany in 1992 with her husband, Jeff, and they have remained Albany residents since then as they raised two children.