A mother who left college at the age of 15 goes back to school and earns her medical degree at the age of 40.
Despite having to drop out of school at the age of 15 due to pregnancy, a bright and driven teen mother has realized her dream of becoming a doctor.
After having four children, Katie Clark, now 43, became a doctor, demonstrating that it is never too late to earn a degree. It was something she had dreamed about since third grade.
While in high school, she became pregnant for the first time at the age of 14, and she gave birth soon after turning 15.
Regarding the “unexpected and unplanned” pregnancy, which proved to be “really difficult and challenging” because of nausea and exhaustion, Clark adds, “there was a recognition that I was going to be young and this was going to change my life.”
“I remember not even making it when I jumped up to run to the bathroom in the middle of class,” she recalls. “I vomited in the hallway in a trash can.”
She was unable to obtain a college scholarship since she failed her qualifying tests. Nevertheless, she received her degree and enrolled at Cleveland, Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University at the age of 18.
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She had to drop out of school to raise her two children after becoming pregnant with her second son a few months after her freshman year started.
A friend from high school’s elder brother, Curtis Clark, was the man Clark would marry two years later. At the time, he was 22 and she was 20.
Following their 2001 marriage, Curtis adopted his new wife’s two sons. After having two sons of their own, the couple relocated across the nation as her husband pursued his education, pediatric urology fellowships, and medical residencies.
However, it wasn’t long before Clark had her chance to pursue her goals. She returned to school at the age of 25 and obtained an associate’s degree from a nearby community college.
After that, Clark enrolled in the University of Kentucky, where she graduated at the age of 28 with an undergraduate degree in anthropology.
Clark finally recognized her opportunity after she and her family moved back to the Cleveland suburbs.
At the age of 34, Clark enrolled in studies at Kent State University in Ohio, where her youngest child was in preschool and her eldest son was a high school freshman. In two years, she received her degree in biology.
After that, she enrolled in and graduated at the age of 40 from Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, which was connected to the Cleveland Clinic, for medical school.
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Clark began a family medicine residency at Cleveland Clinic Akron General in Ohio after earning his doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O.) degree from medical school. Her three-year program will conclude in June, and she will start working as an attending physician at Akron General Health and Wellness Center in Stow, Ohio.
The director of Cleveland Clinic Akron General’s Family Medicine Residency Program, Dr. Douglas Harley, stated that Clark’s background “gives her deep and valuable relationships with her patients.” “It is clear from observing her in the clinical care setting that she possesses a rare and unique level of present-moment awareness, connection, and focus.”
According to Clark, her life story will provide her with the perspective and self-assurance she needs to become a kind and considerate doctor. Additionally, she is already aware of how she will respond if she treats a patient who is a teen mother.
She states, “I want to look at the patient as a whole.” “We’ll overcome it,” I’ll tell them.
