The Science of Stillness to the Heart of Downstate

By Office of the President | May 22, 2025

In the fast-moving world of academic medicine, where pace and pressure rarely let up, stillness is radical. Yet at Downstate, Carla Liberatore, M.D., is helping students and residents reclaim it. As Assistant Dean of Wellness for the College of Medicine and a distinguished robotic OB/GYN surgeon, she guides the next generation of physicians, equipping them with the tools to care for themselves as intentionally as they care for others.

Her yoga and meditation sessions, offered virtually and in person, are cherished spaces where future clinicians learn to pause, breathe, and reconnect. What began as a quiet offering has evolved into a cultural shift acknowledging that resilience comes from replenishing the mind and spirit.

Dr. Liberatore’s journey to this work is rooted in decades of personal exploration and professional dedication, beginning in her undergraduate years at Cornell University. At the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, that awareness deepened as she witnessed the human side of medicine—mentors, patients, and the lived care experience during the HIV pandemic revealed to her that healing is possible even when a cure is not.

Her commitment to whole-person care continued through her OB/GYN residency at Albany Medical Center, where she began building wellness programs for patients. Over 25 years of practicing obstetrics and gynecology, she witnessed firsthand how weaving wellness into everyday life transforms patient care and provider well-being.

Dr. Liberatore’s learning continued with geriatric wellness in Scotland, alongside Indigenous communities in Alaska and South Dakota, and by immersing herself in Eastern approaches to healing while living in Japan. She volunteered in hospice, gaining a reverence for each phase of life, and served as Chief of Staff and Quality Officer at Upstate Medical University during the COVID-19 pandemic, each role solidifying the relationship between community well-being and healthcare quality.

She studied Ashtanga and Hatha yoga in India, lived in a Nepalese ashram, and became a certified yoga instructor with over 500 hours of teacher training, including prenatal and geriatric yoga. These experiences were turning points where she found ways to merge ancient wisdom with clinical insight, cultivating inner calm that could carry through even the most difficult moments.

She recently completed sound healing training in Thailand, deepening her integrative approach to wellness. These practices are now woven into student life through her expanding collaboration with Maria Deutscher, Ph.D., Director of the Student Counseling Center.

Dr. Liberatore is teaching more than yoga or meditation; she is guiding students and residents back to themselves with programs that offer restoration and reflect the more profound truth that self-care is a necessity in medicine, affirming that when healthcare professionals care for themselves, they are better able to care for others, and in turn, transforming the system.

In a profession where every heartbeat matters, Dr. Liberatore is helping members of the Downstate community hear their own heartbeat again, calmly and purposefully.