Growing up poor, Carl Allamby’s youthful dream of becoming a physician seemed like a long shot: “Nobody around me talked about being a doctor.” (The Cleveland Clinic) But at the age of 47 Carl completed that journey.
He went on, “From my own experience, it is very difficult to focus on your education when your mind is filled with challenges outside the walls of the school. Food insecurity, safely making it to and from school, affording decent clothing and basic school supplies or just trying to fit in took precedent over studying and getting good grades. My saving grace was our strong family structure. My siblings and I always stuck together and weathered our hardships as a team.”
Allamby also said that “the trajectory toward medicine and other white-collar careers takes a constant focus on education, exposure to the desired occupations, enhanced curricula and having representative examples to model oneself after. All these things were either non-existent or unreachable,” he said, under his circumstances when he was growing up.
In 2015, he started medical school at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
“I would argue that in many ways, I had it easier than some of my much younger colleagues,” he said.”When I got to medical school, I was laser focused. I worked very hard to stay ahead, but I think all of my responsibilities kept me focused on what needed to get done.” He was determined not to let his age difference hinder or intimidate him as he studied alongside his more youthful classmates.
He had many responsibilities to juggle as a husband, a father of four and a student who had to commute — but it forced him to be efficient with his time, he said.
Dr. Carl Allamby during two distinct phases of his life.
“I worked very hard to stay ahead, but I think all of my responsibilities kept me focused on what needed to get done,” he said. “That helped me to consume the large quantities of information that must be understood to succeed in medicine.”
“Interestingly, as I have gotten older, the human connection and thought of empathy and caring for others have been equally important.”
Every day is different, he said — and just as with a car, his work in the emergency room has the “potential to go from 0 to 60 in seconds.”
He was determined not to let his age difference hinder or intimidate him as he studied alongside his more youthful classmates.
“I would argue that in many ways, I had it easier than some of my much younger colleagues,” he said.
“When I got to medical school, I was laser focused. I worked very hard to stay ahead, but I think all of my responsibilities kept me focused on what needed to get done.”
He had many responsibilities to juggle as a husband, a father of four and a student who had to commute — but it forced him to be efficient with his time, he said.
“I worked very hard to stay ahead, but I think all of my responsibilities kept me focused on what needed to get done,” he said. “That helped me to consume the large quantities of information that must be understood to succeed in medicine.” It turns out that being a mechanic prepared him well to become a compassionate doctor.
“At my automotive business, the failure of transportation left customers in despair with unknown costs, an unknown length of time [during] repairs and the necessity to form contingency plans while their vehicle was down.”
He learned to translate his experiences when he took care of patients as a doctor.
Allamby graduated from medical school at age 47 — and started his emergency medicine residency in 2019 at Cleveland Clinic Akron.
Attending physician in the ER
Allamby’s dream finally came full circle in 2022. He recently started his first job in an emergency room as an attending physician — the term used to describe doctors after they complete all their training — at Cleveland Clinic’s Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.
He finds that he frequently draws on his experiences in his former career, realizing that providing empathy, compassion and reassurance is often as important as providing appropriate medical care. “Interestingly, as I have gotten older, the human connection and thought of empathy and caring for others have been equally important.”
He learned it’s important to provide great customer service in medicine, too.Every day is different, he said — and just as with a car, his work in the emergency room has the “potential to go from 0 to 60 in seconds.”
Caring for the community
Dr. Allamby said it is important and special for him to serve the people where he grew up.”Whether running an auto repair business in my former career or now providing medical care for those in need, I’ve maintained a connection with my hometown throughout my working career.”
“Plan your work and work your plan. Your sacrifices today will produce advantages for tomorrow.”
