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 Like many
high school teenagers, Dr. Mark Gregory had little idea what
he wanted to do with his life after graduation.
Today, Gregory thanks a occupational program and a student organization
for helping him find the key to his career as a family practice
medical physician.
An Individualized Cooperative Education (ICE) program and the
Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA), a career tech
student organization, started him on his journey.
That journey to success took him from a job as a hospital orderly,
while in high school, to running his own family practice clinic
in the rural northwest Oklahoma town of Okarche.
His wife, Terri, is the clinic's office manager. Terri is a former
member of DECA, the vocational student organization associated
for marketing education students. Together, they oversee both
the business and medical side of the clinic which serves patients
in three counties.
"My career tech education experience taught me valuable
lessons I still use today," Gregory said. At Crescent High
School, Gregory's ICE program allowed him to participate in an
internship at a local hospital after school. Skills he learned
there allowed him to work his way through college and medical
school.
"I learned early what life was like at various levels in
the medical field," Gregory said.
Occupational training gave him skills he could use while he was
getting his education at Oklahoma State University and the University
of Oklahoma Medical School.
While in college, Gregory worked as an orderly, a respiratory
therapy technician, an emergency room technician and finally,
as a physician. Through these firsthand experiences, he has seen
the medical profession from all angles.
Gregory said his "apprenticeship" has made him a better
doctor.
"I know what it means to do things like empty bedpans,"
he said. "Being an orderly made me a better physician. The
experience I received augmented my education. I understand many
of the roles of medical professionals."
Gregory, a former *VICA
state treasurer, said VICA also played a significant role in
his emotional and educational growth.
As a state officer, Gregory traveled across the state and the
nation - opportunities not normally available to a boy from a
small, rural town, he said. One of the highlights of his VICA
experience was participating in a national conference in Washington,
D.C.
"VICA showed me that in any profession you need fundamental
skills and work ethic," he said.
Gregory's parents were also supportive of his VICA activities,
which included several leadership and speaking programs.
"My parents saw that VICA gave me self-confidence to see
that I could succeed beyond the boundaries of Crescent,"
Gregory said. "These are people skills I developed as a
state officer."
And, these are now talents that he uses today as head of his
own business.
Gregory, a father of three children, also recommends vocational
education to other parents. He said career tech gives young people
the skills to establish a solid foothold in the workforce.
"Career and technology education puts students in on the
ground floor," Gregory said. "From there they can decide
how far they want to move up."
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