Student Spotlight: Katherine Lowe

As Katherine “Kate” Lowe (’24) embarks on her final year at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, she looks back on her time fondly and looks forward to what her future as a physician holds.

“My time at CCLCM has been wonderful. I appreciated having the space to figure out what I wanted out of medical school and to grow as a person in addition to growing as a future physician. I truly feel prepared for the next steps in my career,” Kate says.

Born and raised in Golden, Colo., Kate grew up in the mountains surrounded by nature, which inspired her to pursue a career as a geologist. She attended Tufts University where she graduated with a degree in geological sciences. As she continued her academic journey, she realized she wanted to pursue a career in medicine instead. This realization led to her working as a clinical researcher for a few years and getting a master’s degree in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before applying to medical school.

Kate found herself drawn to CCLCM because of the heavy influence on research and the opportunity to conduct clinical research in epidemiology.

In terms of preparation for becoming a physician, the one aspect of Kate’s time at CCLCM that stands out the most is the continued patient exposure that CCLCM students experience over the five years. She found that seeing patients longitudinally and talking them through a wide variety of experiences was extremely valuable and gave her better context to take care of future patients.

“My experiences on the wards have been both incredible and challenging. I had the privilege of being the first person to welcome a baby into the world, and my team was instrumental in helping a patient get mitral valve surgery, which changed his entire life for the better. But I’ve also been in patient rooms when we had to tell a patient and a family that it was time to think about comfort care, and I’ve listened to patients talk about how poorly they’ve been treated by our medical system,” she says.

Kate says that one of her favorite courses while studying at CCLCM was the cognitive behavioral therapy course, led by Kathleen Franco, MD, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and former Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Admissions at CCLCM. The course helped her handle the stresses of medical school, but also taught her how to help patients through difficult situations.

One of her biggest accomplishments over the five-year program was working on the Climate Change Curriculum Committee. The members aim to integrate the impact of climate and the environment on health within the curriculum so that medical students have the opportunity to gain valuable insights into managing the potential health complications posed by the ongoing climate crisis.

As she looks ahead, Kate has discovered a genuine passion for anesthesiology during her time at CCLCM and intends to pursue this specialty once she begins residency. “While I didn’t expect to pick anesthesia when I started medical school, I found that I loved the structure and flow of the operating room, but I didn’t necessarily want to be a surgeon. I found that I want to be the ‘internist’ of the operating room, and that’s exactly what I will get to be as an anesthesiologist,” she says.

Outside of the classroom and hospital, Kate’s passion for the outdoors truly comes alive. Whether it’s running, biking or camping, she wholeheartedly embraces all things nature related. Lately, she has discovered “adventure paddleboarding” with her partner, braving the minimal whitewater of the Cuyahoga River and finding that, while they may fall off all the time, they have a rollicking good time.