Karen Tobias – 1st year New Haven Fellow

Hi! My name is Karen and I am one of the first-year fellows in the Yale New Haven track program. I am so excited you are exploring the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship program here at the Yale Child Study Center. A little about myself- I am originally from Los Angeles, went to UC Berkeley for undergrad, moved to New Orleans for medical school at Tulane University, and then moved to New York City for residency. I initially entered pediatrics and completed my internship at New York University, but soon realized I wanted to work with children and families in the area of mental health and so transferred as a PGY-2 to Cornell for adult psychiatry residency. I am thrilled to be a fellow here at the Yale Child Study Center and to have joined this warm family!

Right now, I am on the consult liaison service. On this rotation, we are exposed to the breadth of psychiatric pathology as it intersects with pediatric medical illness and have the opportunity to interface with multiple specialties caring for complicated patients.

Here is a day in the life…Good weather permitting, I wake up around 6:30 in the morning, pack a thermos of hot coffee and take a bike ride up East Rock with my husband and find our favorite lookout spot to enjoy the views of New Haven. I get home and chart review the patients we are following on the consult liaison service. I drive to work in less than 10 minutes and meet my co-fellow in our call room. We walk over to the hospital together to join our attending to meet with the pediatric social workers, colleagues with whom we collaborate closely, to review our shared patients. As a team, we see new consults, round on the patients we are following, discuss the cases, and communicate our recommendations with the pediatric inpatient teams. After rounds, I grab my lunch and eat with the other fellows. We then head to didactics which varies daily from psychopharmacology lectures to consultation liaison seminars to young child supervision. In the afternoon, I catch up on notes and see any new consults. The workday typically ends around 5:00PM.

I live next to an adorable local grocery so it is easy to pick up a few ingredients on my way home. My husband and I love cooking dinner and having friends over but also enjoy being able to walk to restaurants, bars, and coffeeshops in the neighborhood. In my free time, I love hiking and exploring the live music and theater scene that greater New Haven has to offer.