Profiles

Claire Davenport '08, Palamountain Scholar 

Claire Davenport was once a single mother who wanted to do more for herself and her son.  She attended Schenectady Community College, then was awarded a full scholarship as a Palamountain Scholar at Skidmore College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in biology. Following Skidmore, Claire continued her studies at Albany Medical College, where she is now finishing her residency and pursuing a master’s degree in bioethics. She lives with husband Eric and two children in Albany.

Claire says of her scholarship at Skidmore, “The Palamountain Scholarship was essential for my success. Skidmore College will always be held in my highest esteem. I have tremendous gratitude for the mentorship and support that I received. I am happy to support your efforts to help more students like myself attend Skidmore College.”

Throughout her education, she has served underprivileged populations and is part of a Haitian organization called Gascov Clerge Foundation and has been a member of their teams delivering free health care to people in Les Cayes, Haiti, during medical school and residency. She has also taught HIV-AIDS education to hundreds of medical students. 

Besides caring for patients as a physician in the hospital and primary-care setting, a service that brings her great joy is mentoring medical students and teen mothers in a service-learning project for medical students at Albany Medical College. Strong Moms was developed to pair medical students with local teen moms. The project helps medical students learn about caring for underprivileged populations while young mothers learn about wellness in pregnancy, childbirth and parenting and develop plans to achieve their vocational goals.

She shares her journey as a teen mom with the medical students at the start of the Strong Moms program each year, emphasizing that the students must be nonjudgmental toward the teen mothers. The medical students need to find a way to interact with mothers that bring out their true capability. One day, that teen mother might become their colleague, just as Claire is today.

My absolute favorite session is when I meet with the teen mothers who are becoming acquainted with their medical student. It is the one day each year where I 100% belong—among teenaged mothers and medical students. I reveal how education set me free from dependence and allowed me to become a physician. My success stands in stark contrast to what many of the mothers have been told about themselves and their own potential. I believe in my heart that every one of them can achieve their goals, and I am honored to be someone whose story might empower them. 

Claire Davenport '08