Creating Career Opportunities for New Physicians: J. Randolph Clements, D.P.M.

J. Randolph Clements, D.P.M., gives to the Carilion Clinic Foundation because he wants to give back to the organization that helped nurture his career. Many people give back to their universities as a way to show appreciation. For Dr. Clements, Carilion deserves a similar level of support.

“Carilion has helped me develop my career, just as much as my high school, college or graduate school helped me,” he said. “The leaders within Carilion have provided support and nurtured me – when you think about it, that’s a lot like what a college does for you. If Carilion had a flag, I would fly it in front of my house.”

Dr. Clements specializes in podiatry and wound care. In addition to his work providing patient care, he has been appointed by our two most recent governors to serve on the state’s Board of Medicine.

Dr. Clements grew up in southwest Virginia and wanted to return here after finishing medical school in Philadelphia and his residency in Texas. When he was hired in 2006, Dr. Clements was Carilion’s first podiatrist. It was a time of transition, when Carilion was moving to a physician-led model.

“It was a time of uncertainty, but one thing that was never uncertain was Carilion’s support for what I wanted to do,” said Dr. Clements. “I just wanted an opportunity in my hometown, and Carilion has supported me each time I have wanted to do something new.”

One of those new projects involved starting Carilion’s Podiatry Residency Program, which began in 2012 to train new physicians. The program recently graduated its first resident. “There is a tremendous need for podiatry in our area,” he said.

Once the residency program got underway, Dr. Clements realized he wanted to provide residents with education and training opportunities that went beyond the program curriculum. That’s when he approached the Carilion Clinic Foundation about making a significant donation.

The Dr. J. Randolph and Michelle Clements Endowed Fund was established in 2013 to support educational opportunities for podiatric residents and to support podiatric research and orthopedic education in the community. Dr. Clements’s hope is that residents will give back to the program after they graduate so that its impact in our communities will grow.

To Dr. Clements, giving to the Carilion Clinic Foundation is just as important as giving to his alma maters.

“I have a great deal of appreciation for Carilion’s mission, for the direction from which we came, for where we are going, and for what this institution has done for me,” Dr. Clements said. “I can’t expect this institution to give to me and not give anything back.”