Rate My Professor Karen Tobias

Karen M. Tobias is an Institute Professor of Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Illinois in 1985, completed a one-year rotating internship at Purdue University in 1986, and finished her surgical residency along with a Master of Science in Veterinary Clinical Sciences at The Ohio State University in 1989. Certified as a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1992, Dr. Tobias joined the University of Tennessee faculty shortly thereafter and has remained there for over 25 years, rising through the ranks to full professor. Her academic career encompasses clinical training in soft tissue surgery for companion animals, with direct responsibility for diagnosis, care, and surgical treatment of patients.

Dr. Tobias specializes in small animal soft tissue surgery, with research interests including portosystemic shunts, perineal hernias, gastrointestinal procedures, urinary tract anomalies, and pain management. She has authored or edited key textbooks such as Manual of Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), Veterinary Surgery: Small Animal (co-editor with Spencer A. Johnston, Elsevier-Saunders, 2011), and Atlas of Ear Diseases of the Dog and Cat (co-author, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), which are required reading for veterinary surgery residents nationwide. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, she has significantly influenced the field, holding a patent for the Universal Tobias Clip surgical device through the UT Research Foundation. Dr. Tobias has presented at more than two dozen international meetings, mentored dozens of students in publishing their work, and served as president of the Society for Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgery. Her honors include the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture's highest award, the Institute Professor Award in 2020, and an American Veterinary Medical Association research award in 2024. In the early 2000s, she co-hosted the HGTV pet care show Barkitecture.