Elena (Ellie) Yanchar is a proud Ohioan. She grew up in Kent, OH where she completed her undergraduate work in Psychology and Women’s Studies. She then worked for the NYC American Red Cross emergency services through the Americorps program, which took her to Louisiana and Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina, which ultimately sparked the fire in her journey to become a physician. She completed her post-baccalaureate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, then completing her Masters in Physiology and Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Georgetown University.
Prior to starting med school she returned to the Louisiana Bayou to again assist the Red Cross with Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. She attended medical school at ATSU- School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, completing her first year in AZ, and doing her clinical work for the next 3 years based out of Portland, OR, doing rural rotations around the Pacific NW and Alaska, where she grew to love the magic and richness of community health centers in the rural and underserved areas. She was also awarded a 4 year National Health Services Corps Scholarship in her first year of medical school, and will be returning the favor for 4 years at a federally qualified health center after residency.
Ellie completed her internship at University Hospitals/Case Western Reserve in categorical Psychiatry, and then transferred into the UCSD Combined Residency starting as a second year resident. Her interests lie in the working with the underserved, the integration of mental and physical health, nutrition, meditation, community, and in hearing people’s stories. When she’s not working you can usually find her on her yoga mat, chasing a sunrise or sunset with her dog Otis, hiking, surfing, cooking vegetables, traveling to visit family or friends, or just somewhere outside breathing the fresh air.
