San Mateo County Health
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Brendan Scherer, MD
Program Director, Psychiatry Residency Training Program
Dr. Scherer graduated from Columbia University and completed his medical training at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. He completed his psychiatric residency at San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, where he also served as Co-Chief Resident. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Since finishing his residency he has consistently worked at San Mateo Medical Center in the psychiatry emergency room.
Karen Li, MD
Assistant Director, Psychiatry Residency Training Program and Inpatient Psychiatrist at San Mateo Medical Center
Dr. Li graduated from Rice University and completed her medical training at Baylor College of Medicine. She completed both her adult psychiatric residency and child & adolescent fellowship at Stanford University, where she also served as Chief Fellow. She currently works for San Mateo Medical Center as an inpatient supervising psychiatrist. Her interests include hospital-based medicine, medical education, and healthcare informatics.
Jennie Yoo, MD
Associate Program Director
Dr. Yoo graduated from Brown University and completed her medical training at UCSF. She completed her psychiatric residency at Los Angeles County + USC, where she also served as Chief Resident of the Consultation-Liaison Services. She currently works for San Mateo Behavioral Health as an outpatient psychiatrist. Her interests include medical education, health services research, and collaborative care.
Melissa Garzón, MD, MPH
Assistant Program Director
Dr. Garzón completed her medical training at the Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga in Colombia. She completed psychiatric residency at the University of New Mexico, and then pursued child and adolescent psychiatry training at Stanford University. After completing her fellowship, she worked at an outpatient clinic in the community and then transitioned to San Mateo County. She currently works for San Mateo Behavioral Health as an Interface provider in the Pediatrics outpatient clinic offering medication management and psychotherapy for a wide variety of diagnoses.
Ben Burton
PGY4 Co-Chief resident
Benjamin Burton is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School. He completed a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. As a medical student, he co-led Walk with a Future Doc, organizing biweekly walks with patients, physicians, and medical professionals to promote healthy lifestyles and a sense of belonging in North Minneapolis. He also facilitated hypertension group visits at the NorthPoint Clinic and presented findings on barriers to hypertension control within the Black community.
Jacob Johnson
PGY4 Co-Chief resident
Jacob is a graduate of the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) School of Medicine. He is a San Mateo County chief resident and UCSF Public Psychiatry fellow. He completed a BA at Columbia University in Comparative Literature and Society and an MA in German Literature at UC Berkeley. As a medical student, Jacob served as a patient navigator at the Bridges student run free clinic and volunteered as a grant assistant for the Chrysalis Support group for girls with a history of trauma and abuse.
Kara Wang, MD
PGY4 Co-Chief resident
Kara Wang is a graduate of the University of California, San Francisco medical school and holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon. Her clinical focus centers on providing care to high-acuity psychiatric patients with severe mental illness, integrating an anti-racist framework to uphold equity and inclusivity in treatment. Her training at the San Mateo County Psychiatry Residency Program has deepened her passion for psychotherapy, particularly in depth work and Jungian analysis.
Vincent Nocera
PGY4 Co-Chief resident
Vincent grew up in the Bay Area and stayed local for college, attending UC Berkeley and majoring in molecular and cell biology/neurobiology. He has always been fascinated by exploring the mind and brain and all their mysteries. While working as a counselor at Alameda county’s mental health and suicide crisis hotline, he discovered his passion for not just exploring minds abstractly and intellectually, but also trying his best to relieve people’s mental suffering, particularly folks dealing with severe mental illness and multiple overlapping systemic obstacles. He carried t