SRM: Where is your hometown?
Oak Ridge, Tennessee. My parents were native Tennesseans and my dad was an electrical engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
SRM: When did you first think about going into medicine?
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I was in college at the University of Tennessee. I loved to dance in the ballet company and spent a lot of time in the ballet studio. I considered ballet as a career, but instead I went to medical school straight out of college. I knew ballet would be temporary if I decided to pursue it. Actually, I thought about becoming a ballet company doctor. But as soon as I did orthopedics in medical school I knew it wouldn’t work.
SRM: Why did you choose to specialize in Obstetrics/Gynecology and then subspecialize in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility?
What attracted me was the variety. I really enjoyed the obstetrics part as well as surgery and basic science. I was also fortunate to have a really great mentor in medical school. Back in the 1980s REI was a very new specialty. Vanderbilt, where I went to medical school, was starting the fourth IVF program in the country. That excited me.
SRM: What kind of work would you choose to do if you weren’t a physician?
This has been so perfect for me that it’s hard to imagine doing something else.
SRM: What do you do to relax?
For me it’s all about family. I have a wonderful husband of 30 years and four children ages 17 to 24. We are all great friends and do as many things together as we can.
Click here to learn a little more about Dr. Nancy Klein .
