Meet Dr. Tomer Levin

What is a Collaborative Care Psychiatrist?

As a Collaborative Care Psychiatrist, I help people to improve their psychological and physical wellbeing.

• When you are feeling down, your physical health also suffers
• When you are physically sick it can be hard to cope emotionally

I am an an expert in

• Depression, anxiety and panic
• Improving overall wellness and risk of illness
• Helping people cope better with medical illness including cancer and survivorship
• Relationships, parenting and other life challenges.

For example, you will notice that I sit on a yoga ball rather than a chair. This is because

• Occupations where you sit all day are associated with chronic lower back pain
• Chronic low back pain is linked to depression, heart attacks, strokes and sick days

Double board certified in Adult Psychiatry and Consultation Liaison Psychiatry

• This training background makes me an expert in collaborative and integrative care psychiatry and on overcoming medical challenges such as cancer.

Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital

I am an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine/NYP. Here I established Collaborative and Integrative Care Psychiatry( 2015-2017). I also directed the Weill Cornell Psychiatry Collaborative Care Center where I led a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners and care managers.

Training

• Medical school: Monash University, Australia (1991)
• Internal medicine at Hadassah Medical Center, Israel (1993-6)
• Psychiatric residency training, Eitanim Mental Health Center (1994-99)
• Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship (2001), Long Island Jewish Medical Center (Northwell Health)
• Public Psychiatry Fellowship, Columbia University, New York (2002)
• Extramural Program for Residency Directors, Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research (2002).

Leadership

• Head of Psycho-oncology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, now NorthWell Health (2001-2005)
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center(2005-2015). Here I developed psychological services for  leukemia, lymphoma, stem-cell transplant and ICU patients. I also worked with Dr. Jimmie Holland who founded the field of psycho-oncology. Another mentor and colleague was Prof. David Kissane, an important psycho-oncology leader. He taught me that sickness reverberates throughout the family. Healthy families are vital to wellness and coping with illness.

Research and Teaching

Research helps clinicians think more carefully about their patients’ challenges. My research is in three areas:

• Collaborative and integrative care psychiatry
• Doctor-patient communication
• Acute Cancer Cognitive Therapy (which I developed)

I teach medical students, resident doctors and fellows. Additionally, I have written numerous chapters in important academic textbooks. I also authored over 50 research articles that were published in major medical journals. Finally, I have presented my research and workshops at national and international forums.