After completing a bachelor of arts in comparative literature from Princeton University and a master of arts in cultural anthropology from Emory University, Dr. Susan Turner completed her pre-medical and medical training at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Her medical school accomplishments earned her a Barbara Liskin Award for Excellence in Psychiatry shortly before her graduation. Dr. Susan Turner went on to complete a psychiatric internship and residency through Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She earned certification through the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 2004.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Susan Turner has served tenures as assistant attending psychiatrist with the New York Presbyterian Hospital and associate medical director of the Columbia Presbyterian Day Treatment Program. Dr. Turner has also done her part to educate the next generation of psychiatrists as a lecturer in clinical psychiatry and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.