Physician Profile:
Robert M. Clark, D.O. of CPC-Evans
When Robert Clark came to
the end of his college years, he had what some people might consider an
enviable dilemma: go to medical school or become a professional golfer.
He had been interested in medicine since he was 11 or 12 years old, so by
the time he finished college, medical school seemed like a natural choice.
On the other hand, he had spent most of his life on the golf course, either
caddying for members at the local country club or cultivating his natural
ability on the links.
When the acceptance letter arrived from the Philadelphia College of
Osteopathic Medicine, it was clear to young Robert what he should do, and he
has never looked back. That is not to say, however, that golf fell by the
wayside. He continued to caddy throughout medical school and to play
whenever he could. As in most endeavors Robert took on, he excelled. During
his many years as a caddy, he achieved the status of caddy master, which
involves management responsibilities with fellow caddies, in the pro shop,
and around the golf club where he worked.
As a golfer, he established a zero handicap – a goal of
many players but an elusive one for all but the best. His father, Robert
Sr., who shares a love of golf as well as an exceptional skill level, no
doubt influenced Robert’s interest in golf. Now retired from the insurance
business, the elder Clark plays on the senior mini-tour. Robert Jr. still
makes time for golf, too, but only as an avocation. With a six handicap, he
is still a fine golfer and enjoys playing whenever and wherever he can,
although Woodside Country Club in Aiken is a favorite local course.
Robert grew up as the oldest child in a family of five in Exton,
Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. His mother, Anna, was a day care
administrator. His brother, Joe, lives in Portland, Oregon, and his sister,
Michelle, the Clarks’ only daughter, has six children of her own and resides
in Exton.
While living in Philadelphia, where he attended medical school and completed
a family medicine residency at St. Joseph Hospital, Robert had the good
fortune of meeting his future wife, Lucinda, while apartment hunting in
1987. Even though their paths crossed only briefly – he was moving in as she
was moving out – their short time as across-the-hall neighbors led to a
2-year courtship and marriage in 1989. Robert and Lucinda now have two
children: a daughter, Jessica, and a son, Xavier.
Like her husband, Lucinda had an early interest in medicine. She had majored
in biology in college and went so far as to complete one year of medical
school when she realized she was on the wrong career path. Fortunately, the
rich and varied culture of New Orleans, where she attended school, breathed
life into Lucinda’s latent interest in art, and she found a vocation she
could enthusiastically embrace. Today, Lucinda is a literary and visual art
agent with her own business, PRA Enterprises.
Dr. Clark’s first medical practice was in Fayetteville, North Carolina. From
there, the family moved to Augusta, where he has been on staff at The Center
for Primary Care for 5 years. Considering the group’s diversity with respect
to background, religion, ethnicity, personality, and interests, he finds
CPC’s physicians to be complementary and remarkably compatible. “We are a
unique group and we work well together,” he says.
Dr. Clark’s background and patient care approach brings yet another facet to
the group. His medical degree is Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), a philosophy of
medicine that considers illnesses in the context of the whole system rather
than in isolation. Although he is the only DO of the 11-physician CPC staff,
“In today’s environment, there are few differences between MDs and DOs with
respect to training and practice,” he says. The unique dimension that Dr.
Clark brings to The Center for Primary Care, however, has less to do with
his degree than with his holistic approach to patient care.
“I am probably more holistic than most primary care physicians,” he says.
Holistic implies a greater emphasis on prevention and, when appropriate,
treatment that relies less on medicine than other approaches, such as
nutrition, exercise, vitamins, muscular manipulations, and consideration of
environmental influences. Part of this interest grew out of his medical
training, but the greater influence was his experience as father of an
asthmatic child.
Jessica was born with asthma, secondary to being a premature infant. When
the child was 2 years old, Lucinda decided to track her asthma attacks to
see if there was a pattern. They discovered that Jessica’s attacks were
occurring almost invariably on Thursdays, immediately after the house was
cleaned on Wednesdays. When they substituted natural cleansers, such as
vinegar, for the harsh chemical products they had been using, the asthma
attacks abruptly ended. This experience caused Dr. Clark to ask himself,
“What might I be missing with my patients?”
Dr. Clark finds that a growing number of patients - particularly those who
grew up in the 1960s - are more open to a holistic approach to medicine.
“They are now getting older,” he says, “and want to avoid the health
problems their parents faced.”
Aside from practicing medicine and playing an occasional round of golf, Dr.
Clark finds time for his other interests, primarily spending time with his
family, but also cooking (which he does an impressive four times a week),
traveling to the Caribbean and the West Coast, and practicing tai-chi (a
Chinese method of meditation and exercise) with his son and daughter.
He takes greatest pride in his family, but is also grateful for
opportunities he has had to make a difference in a community. He is
particularly pleased to have founded the Esquire Club for black males at
Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Created for social and philanthropic
purposes, the organization has thrived for 20 years as a source of
recreation, camaraderie, and scholarship funding.
Dr. Clark’s relaxed manner, sense of humor, medical skill, and obvious
interest in improving the human condition are assets that not only serve his
patients well but also further broaden the scope and quality of medical care
at The Center for Primary Care
