Meet Dr. Eggleston-Clark
The year 2020 was a year of progress, even as the global COVID-19 pandemic threatened our communities and livelihoods. It is in this most turbulent of years that we witnessed our first female and African American Vice President sworn into office. It is in this year of chaos, that strong black women, such as Stacey Abrams, not only brought about change but were also recognized for their contributions.
In honor of Black History Month, it seems only fitting after this unprecedented year, that we celebrate and recognize the contributions of our board member, Dr. Valenica Eggleston-Clark. As a physician, Dr. Eggleston-Clark is on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a woman of color, she has a unique understanding into the vaccination hesitancy of the African American community.
Dr. Eggleston-Clark recognizes that there are physical, social and psychological reasons that contribute to vaccine reluctance, but the number one issue she has encountered is that people are distrusting of the vaccine due to the speed at which it was created. She notes that medical science has significantly improved since previous vaccines were developed and funding was not a challenge. Dr. Eggleston-Clark says her most import job as a physician is to help her patients make an informed decision and she accepts it “as a personal challenge to address each of their concerns”.
Dr. Eggleston-Clark speaks which such compassion that one would assume the medical profession was always her calling. When asked she states “I think all little girls are originally drawn to be a teacher, but in elementary school, my father told me I was going to Duke and I was going to be a doctor and the seed was planted.”
Dr. Eggleston-Clark graduated high school from Laurel Park. After finishing undergrad at Duke University, Dr. Eggleston-Clark took four years off of school to work in a FEMA Program that was then called the Pittsylvania County Community Action Program. She then studied Family Medicine at East Carolina Medical School and completed her Residency through the Moses Cone Family Medicine Program.
She said she always knew she wanted to return to Martinsville-Henry County and that she was drawn back to the community, “because there was a shortage of physicians.” She credits the community with supporting her throughout her educational pursuits and recognizes that “it made a deep impression” and she “wants to give back”.
And give back she does. In addition to serving on The Harvest Foundation Board of Directors, Dr. Eggleston-Clark volunteers at her local church, Christ’s Temple United Holy Church in Axton, and remains active in her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, the same sorority as Vice President Kamala Harris.
