Karen Tu: Woven into the Fabric of the UofTMed Community

Dr. Tu is a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at University of Toronto, with a cross appointment in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, a Research Scientist at North York General Hospital and a staff family physician at the University Health Network-Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team.

She received her MD from the University of Toronto, and her MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing in a joint degree from the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Like many members of the Faculty of Medicine community, Dr. Karen Tu graduated from medical school at U of T and “never really left.” Recently, Dr. Tu took some time to share her story with Director of Alumni Relations, Sara Franca, and give some insight into what she enjoys about her career and what inspires her to support the Faculty of Medicine and its students, above and beyond her professional responsibilities.

What specifically do you remember about your MD and residency experiences?

What a great group of classmates I had, full of interesting personalities! It was a large class of 252 people — I can't remember everyone's name, but I really enjoy our class reunions and hearing where people ended up. I was a clerk, did my residency, and now am a staff family physician at UHN, so I feel like I never really left.

What are you doing now, professionally?

I am a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, a research scientist at North York General and a family physician at TWH-UHN. I have a very busy and active research career with a focus on using primary care electronic medical record (EMR) data for secondary purposes.

What inspires you about your career today?

I love being a family physician. I learn a lot from my patients and their stories and experiences. I enjoy following patients throughout their lives — I have patients that I delivered as a resident, now being mothers of their own, and mothers and fathers becoming grandparents! It is so rewarding to be able to develop longstanding relationships with patients. That is the nature of family medicine. Being able to help and support them in their times of need and watch them overcome their challenges. I also love the inquiry and discovery of research, encouraging and guiding the next generation of researchers is fun and rewarding as well.

How do you feel about how the field of medicine has continued to evolve?

It is hard to believe it is has been almost 100 years since the discovery of insulin. When I was in medical school, we were just learning about HIV/AIDS, and there was no such thing as email, internet, and cell phones — it was only in the past decade that we started to adopt electronic medical records. I think there is still so much untapped potential in analyzing electronic medical record data, particularly in primary care. I feel like this year will be pivotal in what medicine, and even life in general, will look like in the future. We are now living through a massive pandemic, something like the world has never seen. What is new to us now will be commonplace for the generations to come.

We are living in fascinating times. I feel like things are rapidly changing in an exponential way. Medical care delivery and education have quickly adapted to virtual care and education delivery. Infection control has become top of mind for everyone. In addition, the renewed spotlight on racism and discrimination will hopefully lead to positive change in the way we all think and behave. It will be interesting to see what the new 'normal' is going to be.

You’ve been a mentor in the Faculty of Medicine's Diversity Mentorship Program. What inspired you to do this and how have you found the experience?

My former Department Head, Dr. Michael Kidd, sent me an email and asked me to consider it. I experienced many challenges in my academic professional career, so I couldn't possibly say no.

I learned a lot from this experience myself. It got me thinking about equity and diversity from a different point of view and that was enlightening. I learned about micro-aggressions, something I was not aware of before. It also gave me a different perspective on challenges I have had to face and overcome, like juggling professional obligations as a family doctor and a researcher, and managing work-life balance, including raising four boys. There have been lots of peaks and valleys and doing this as both a woman and a visible minority — like many of my colleagues, I have a full plate!

You gave recently to U of T’s Landmark Project, can you tell me why you chose to make this generous gift?

I jumped at the opportunity to commemorate my brother, Jack Tu (PGMT ’92, MSc ’93), who was also a physician, researcher and U of T Professor. He passed away suddenly two years ago. There have been awards named after him at U of T and internationally, but it was an opportunity for me to do something personally to honour his memory, and a granite paver with his name on it seemed like a meaningful way to mark the impact he made on campus.

What advice would you give to students considering a career in health care?

Do it! In my opinion, it is the most rewarding career. Dedicate yourself to helping people and get paid to do it. What could be better?