Member of the Week: Dr. Nikki Clark

Practice: Since residency I have been on the faculty at Utah Valley Family Medicine Residency. I practice full-scope family medicine so I see patients in the office, do OB, and work on our family medicine hospitalist service. This is mixed in with precepting in the office with the residents. I also have been learning more about the administrative side of medicine as the current medical staff president at Utah Valley Hospital. Every day is a little different!

Residency: Utah Valley Family Medicine Residency, Utah Valley Hospital, Provo, UT

Any additional training or fellowships? Geriatrics- Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME

A bit about Dr. Clark: I grew up in New Haven, Vermont about 30 miles south of Burlington is a small (<1000) dairy farming community. My parents were both nurses at the local critical access hospital so I learned from an early age that I did not want to be a nurse- their work is too hard! I went to the University of Colorado for my undergrad degree. While there, I did a semester on a ship that went around the world (Semester at Sea, now sponsored by Colorado State University) It changed my life. It was incredible to see how similar we are across the different continents and just how fortunate we are in the US. It solidified my desire to become a doctor. After college I spent 2 years of teaching outdoor education, retail, traveling and skiing (but not very well!) before applying to medical school. I was lucky to attend the University of Vermont where I split my rotation between Vermont and Maine Medical Center in Portland Maine. Residency was a bit of a surprise when I matched at Utah Valley Family Medicine in Provo. While it was not my first choice, it turned out to be the best match ever! My education continued 12 years after residency when I decided to do a fellowship in Geriatrics. I matched back at Maine Medical Center and had the best year of learning, being back in New England and reminding myself how to live on a PGY4 salary! I have come to love living in Utah. I have learned that I don’t like humidity and laugh when it is 30 degrees out and people complain it is “cold”. My “family” are my two Australian Shepherds, Jemma and Jasper. Just like children, they go to day care every day, they make messes at home they don’t clean up and want to eat junk food! I started doing agility training with them a couple of years ago and Jasper, who is 3 and has the attention span of a hummingbird, just completed his first “jumpers” title! I’m a proud mama!

What keeps you passionate about family medicine? Working with people- patients and residents- in all stages of life. The ups and downs, the good and the bad.

What do you wish you’d known when graduating from med school? Medical school does a great job teaching the broad science of medicine but, not as good on figuring out how to apply this to actually people who don’t always follow the statistics

Where will we find you on your day off? Usually at home working in my yard. Apparently the only green thumb I have is for weeds!

What are you…
reading right now: The Shadow Rise- the 4th book of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

watching right now: Catching up on the the latest “Walking Dead” episodes (I am 7 behind!)

listening to right now: My favorite channels on Sirius- U2 radio, The 90s, Road Trip Radio and the Spectrum