She graduated from the University of Rochester with her MS in Care of Children and Families in 1998 after having worked for many years as an RN in NICU, Well Baby and Pediatric ICU settings. Karen worked at the El Paso Hospital District as Pediatric Clinical Expert and in the hospital’s outpatient clinics from 1999 to 2012. Karen lived in Cuernavaca, Mexico for 4 months in 2002 learning Spanish and the Mexican culture.