Beaumont Health pediatricians' calm, comforting care made a strong impression on David Tobin, M.D., (CAS '13, OUWB '17) starting at age 9, when his brother was diagnosed with diabetes, and again when Tobin himself was diagnosed with diabetes four years later.

"This could have gone one of two ways," he says. "It could have been a negative experience that we walked away from angry and scared. But it didn't go that way. We came out of it empowered. We felt like we had somebody who was watching our back and everything was going to be okay." 

As an adult, Tobin would find himself working alongside some of his own childhood doctors as an OUWB student. 

Tobin, who now practices general pediatrics at Trinity Health IHA in Plymouth, Michigan says he was inspired by his and his brother's pediatricians' positive, reassuring attitudes during a frightening experience. 

Tobin applies this supportive approach into his own theory of care, both in his own practice and in his community service work. He's served as a counselor at a summer camp for kids with diabetes and as a member of OU's Honors College Board of Visitors. His community contributions were recently recognized with an OU Young Alumni "10 Within 10" award. The annual awards honor the talents and accomplishments of OU alumni who have graduated within the past 10 years. Tobin and his fellow 2025 honorees received their "10 Within 10" awards at OU's Alumni Night of Excellence in May. 

"It was kind of a double-take when I got the email," Tobin says of learning that he was a "10 Within 10" awardee. "But the fact that it's only 10 people made me think, 'Well, this is super cool.'" 

Path to pediatrics 

Tobin says his brother's diabetes diagnosis was an unexpectedly "cool, positive experience for the whole family." The same held true for his own diagnosis, and he recalls his practitioners having "laid-back and friendly" attitudes and a "sense of calm" throughout the process. He fondly remembers the small team of three to five doctors with whom his family worked during the two diagnoses. 

"You get to meet everybody and they kind of become part of your family," he says. 

After those experiences, Tobin says he was "more or less stuck" on the idea of pursuing a career as a pediatrician. As he began to make plans for college, OU was a natural choice. 

"I wanted to go somewhere that I could commute to and still be around, still be local, still be near my friends," says Tobin, who grew up in Michigan in Northville and now lives in Novi. 

He says that when he began his undergraduate studies, majoring in biology, he immediately felt that OU was a "great fit" for him – especially when he compared his experience to friends "who went to bigger universities and had no time for anything." 

"I didn't feel like I was like the smallest fish in the biggest sea all the time, where I was barely able to keep up. When I wanted to do hard stuff, I could do hard stuff," he says. "When I wanted to do extra, I could do extra. But I also could still be me and still have my own identity."

In 2011, even before he started medical school, Tobin began community service work by volunteering at Camp Midicha, a Fenton-based residential summer camp program for children with diabetes. Julie Surhigh, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist, worked alongside Tobin at Camp Midicha in his first year.

"He just stepped up and was like, 'All right, I have to take care of this cabin of little eight-year-olds that have diabetes, so what do I have to do?'" she says.

Tobin has continued to work at the camp every year since, describing it as "one of [his] favorite times of year." Surhigh says he's a "great role model" for the campers, showing them the career possibilities that could lie ahead for them. 

During the 2017 Embark Colloquium, Tobin explains his research to Kara Sawarynski, Ph.D, assistant dean, Accreditation and Continuous Quality Improvement.

"A really cool combination" 

As Tobin prepared to start medical school, he recalls thinking it was "a really cool combination" when he learned that OU and Beaumont Health (now Corewell Health) were planning to open OUWB. The positive impact both institutions had had on his life made his choice to pursue medical school at OUWB an easy one. Because OUWB was relatively new when he began medical school in 2013, he says he didn't feel like he was "in this giant machine." 

"It had a nice, personable feel," he says. 

Tobin particularly appreciated the mentorship he received through OUWB's Promoting Reflection and Individual Growth Through Support and Mentoring (PRISM) program. He says his mentor, Hannan Alsahlani, D.O., was his "go-to person" to discuss both his achievements and his stressors. 

"Having that rock-solid person all four years was really amazing," he says. 

Alsahlani recalls Tobin's "immense passion for working with children" and describes him as "the best of the best." 

"From the first day I met him, I knew that he was going to soar," Alsahlani says. "He was always extremely kind, respectful, and interested to learn. He always gave input, and always wanted to get as much advice as possible, and I was always very, very happy to share that with him." 

When Tobin began his clinical rotations, he found himself working with some of the doctors who'd treated and inspired him as a child. 

"Being on the other side, being on the student end of things, was super, super cool," he says. "These are people that I still work with now in a different capacity, too. So, something that's been really cool about this is that I can kind of continue to be a part of that family in the long term." 

"I feel like a regular guy" 

After finishing his residency at the University of Michigan CS Mott Children's Hospital in 2020, Tobin was ready to move into private practice. He says his first six months as a practicing pediatrician were "tough" because he felt like he was "working in an urgent care" where he was meeting all his patients for the first time. But he says his job became "a lot more fun" as he developed relationships with his patients. He credits OUWB for some of his approach to patient relationships, noting that his time at the school taught him not just to memorize facts but to listen and understand patients' needs. 

"I think the amount of focus on those softer, humanistic concepts is so priceless," he says. "I think they did a great job on trying to do as much of that as they can." 

Mental health is one of Tobin's clinical interests, and he jokes that he "got what [he] bargained for" by beginning to practice in 2020, as mental health concerns spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he takes great satisfaction in that work. He proudly describes receiving recent feedback from a patient's parent who said Tobin's care had made a "night and day difference" in their child's mental health, helping the child thrive in school for the first time in years. 

"A different level of intimacy comes along with (mental health care) beyond just a physical ailment," Tobin says. "It can also be more draining, ... but to see them come out of it is super rewarding." 

Outside of his pediatrics practice, Tobin serves on the OU Honors College Board of Visitors, which he describes as "a nice way to get [his] toe back in the water" and "make an impact" at his alma mater. He hopes to expand mentorship opportunities for pre-med students through his role on the board. He's also considering pursuing clinical teaching or being a PRISM mentor himself, now that he's settled into both pediatric practice and fatherhood (he and his wife welcomed their first child in 2020, and their second in 2022). 

Although his commitment to community was recognized through the "10 Within 10" award this year, Tobin is humble about his contributions. 

"I feel like a regular guy who things went pretty well for, and I ended up where I wanted to be," he says. 

But he appreciated the opportunity to be recognized alongside 10 other OU alumni who are making an impact. 

"To be able to see everybody all together, and the ways that we're all different but still doing something for the community, that was really cool," he says.