What defines a career? For Dennis Clements, M.D., Ph.D., the answers can be found all around his office on the first floor of Trent Hall.
The shelves overflow with photos, cards, mementos, and books about tropical diseases and child health. Tucked in a corner is his famous beverage cart, which he wheeled into classes every day for more than a decade so students could help themselves to coffee during class. On the back of a closet door hang dozens of lanyards, collected from professional conferences and visits over the years. Clements points to an ID badge, which shows a photo of his younger self and has a Donald Duck sticker on the corner.
“That’s when I was a fellow at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne,” he says. “That’s where I did my Ph.D. research.”
Clements officially retired on June 30 after more than 50 years at Duke, beginning with a pediatric residency in 1973. He served on the committee that formed the Duke Global Health Institute in 2006 and was one of its first professors. Over the years, he held several leadership roles, including leading DGHI’s undergraduate education programs and serving for two years as DGHI’s interim director.
A framed photo with messages from...
But he is perhaps best known for his dedication to generations of global health students. He was named twice as DGHI’s undergraduate professor of the year since 2014, and his office contains dozens of notes from students and alumni, thanking him for his support.
“What’s made working at DGHI these years are the students,” says Clements, who on his last day teaching DGHI’s undergraduate capstone course wore a three-piece tuxedo with top hat and tails. “They come along with so much potential to change the world. I’m very grateful for the time I’ve spent with them [and at Duke].”
In the weeks before his retirement, Clements talked with DGHI about some of the items he’s collected in his office and the memories they hold of his years in the classroom and field.
Las Mercedes Rio Colorado
Clements: More than a decade ago, Duke partnered with Heifer International and a clinic was built in Las Mercedes, Honduras. It serves the 12 surrounding villages in the Intibucá region. Before that, we had been taking nursing and medical students to the country for the “Exploring Medicine in Foreign Cultures” course, a 10-day immersive learning experience in the rural mountains where students learn about how people live in remote areas and treat them. This picture was given to me in 2014 by the president of the clinic as a thank you for my years of service.
The mother and her baby
It was painted by Kirby Erlandson, a Duke alumna who studied global health, politics, policy and society. She painted ten pieces to raise money while in undergrad for WISER (Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research) in Muhuru Bay, Kenya. It was co-founded by Sherryl Broverman at DGHI.
I bought two of them, and the second is in the reception area of Trent Hall. She was 17 when she painted the portrait in my office, which is on newspaper.
Lanyards
Clements: Ever since I joined Duke, I began keeping the nametags from the meetings and conferences I’ve gone to. Early in my career, I did a lot of vaccine research, traveled across Europe and even went to New Zealand. During the last 20 years, most of those lanyards are related to global health and meetings at Duke for alumni and faculty. There’s a little bit of everything up there.
“Brilliant Medicine. Thoughtful Care”
Clements: This picture was taken in the late 1990s/early 2000s. This was during a time when medical centers were merging with private practices to increase patient referrals. Duke was more known for its specialty care at the time and wanted to promote its primary care. They picked me and four for the campaign, and the picture was a poster in Raleigh-Durham International Airport. I was gifted this picture after serving as interim chair of the department of pediatrics for Duke School of Medicine from 2004 to 2005. Was the picture with the kids easy to get? It was.
Taking care of infants
Clements: I was a practitioner for Durham Child Care Center from 1978 to 1986. I worked with them when I was a medical resident at the university. It’s a collage of pictures of infant patients, myself and the nurses I worked with. Also, the practice’s name was changed to “Durham Pediatrics” because people thought it was a daycare. They wanted to drop their children off and go shopping because it was on Main Street near the tobacco warehouse.
What I learned in private practice is to always ask the nurse what is going on with a patient because they have a different point of view than the doctor. When you and your nurses are on the same page, you can provide better care. Nurses are your first line of defense for everything you do and anywhere you are.
They gave me this picture after I left the practice to return to Duke for my infectious disease fellowship.
