ILLUMINATING MOOD DISORDERS IN The Phantom of the Opera AT GRAND ROUNDS ou might not think of medical school as a prime venue for musical theater. But for Anthony Tobia, MD, associate professor of psychiatry, known for his innovative methods of using film, literature, and music to illuminate issues in psychiatry, it makes perfect sense. One of his teaching staples is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, the musical version of the story of a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured genius. Dr. Tobia has been using the musical in seminars and didactics since 2009. So a few years ago, when a medical student in one of his roundtable seminars said her sister, Julia Udine, was starring as Christine in the North American tour, he was dumbfounded. “I knew we would collaborate one day,” says the popular professor, who also serves as director of the psychiatry core clerkship for third-year students at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and oversees undergraduate medical education programs in the Department of Psychiatry. He would have to wait, because shortly after that conversation, Udine won the role on Broadway, a stint that lasted from December 2014 until June 2016. In fall 2016, Dr. Tobia and Udine finally came together to give the Rutgers community a glimpse into the psychiatric underpinnings of Phantom for a special grand rounds. The October 27 event, streamed to two dozen universities nationwide, was hosted by the Stuart D. Cook MD Master Educators’ Guild and the Department of Psychiatry. Held at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, it was attended by more than 450 faculty, residents, medical students, and members of the public. BY CARLA CANTOR • PHOTOS BY STEVE HOCKSTEIN 8 Robert Wood Johnson I MEDICINE