Previously at Yale he was the Medical Director of Acute Care Services at Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven CT where he was involved in coordination and provision of mental health services to a large Iraqi refugee population, and undocumented immigrants in New Haven. Dr. Barkil-Oteo's work focuses on using technology to increase capacity of non-specialists to deliver effective and high-quality mental health care in low-income settings. He is the co-founder of the Syrian Tele-mental Health Network. His writings have appeared in Lancet, Lancet Psychiatry, JAMA psychiatry, and his work has been featured on ABC News and Huffington post.