Dr. Claire Usala

As far back as she can remember, Dr. Claire Usala always wanted to be a physician. 

“I don’t remember ever wanting to do anything else,” said the youngest of four who hails from Amarillo, Texas. “My dad is an endocrinologist. Growing up, random people would see my last name and tell me what a great physician he was and how they loved having him as their doctor – and then just seeing him caring for people at such a deep level made an impression.”

She also gets inspiration from her older sister, a Catholic nun and a resident at Georgetown University Medical Center in internal medicine. “She has been a great role model for me in terms of seeing how compassionate a person she is and how people really just appreciate her presence,” she said. “And my mom always taught me that I’ve been blessed with so much that it’s only right to serve others.”

Continuing that family tradition of compassion during her time at UT Southwestern, Dr. Usala managed the women’s clinic at Union Gospel Mission and served as a counselor at Kamp Kaleidoscope, a camp for teens living with epilepsy.

That care and dedication helped her earn the Kurt Ian Wey, M.D., Senior Pediatric Award. Established by the Wey family and friends in honor of a 1998 UT Southwestern Medical Center graduate who died in an automobile accident, the award recognizes a fourth-year medical student who shows empathy and compassion for sick children, has significant knowledge, and maintains a good sense of humor.

“This award is one of the highest recognitions our Department gives to medical students, and I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than Claire,” said Dr. Soumya Adhikari, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Pediatrics Clerkship. “Although still very early in her career, Claire’s passion for critical care medicine, her academic record, and her record of leadership on this campus set her apart from her classmates. She is giving of her time and energy, thoughtful in her patient care interactions, and her intellectual curiosity is second to none.”

Dr. Usala said she had numerous “very supportive” mentors at UT Southwestern, including Dr. Stephen Figueroa, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics; Dr. Wayne Gluf, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery; and Dr. Amy Johnson, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Family and Community Medicine. 

After graduating from Amarillo High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in art history (magna cum laude) from Georgetown University. “I knew I wanted to go to medical school so I wanted to use college to study something completely different,” she said. “I think it made me a better-rounded person.”

When she toured Children’s Medical Center during a campus visit, she decided UT Southwestern was the medical school for her. “I wanted to do my rotations there,” she said. “I loved how they seemed to respect medical students and wanted them to be involved members of the team. I was thrilled when I got in. It worked out perfectly.”

She loved her surgery rotation, but the doctor-patient relationship drew her back to pediatrics. “I enjoy educating families as a pediatrician and the spectrum of newborns to adolescents,” she said.

College sweethearts, she and Steven Keithley, an attorney, have been married for about 10 months.

“He was in law school at the University of Virginia, so our relationship was long distance the first three years of medical school,” she says. “He was very understanding of constantly studying because he was doing the same thing.” 

Dr. Usala said she is honored by the award and eager to start her residency at Columbia University. “It’s a great way to have a closing to the medical school years and thinking back on how hard we’ve worked, but also just knowing that there’s a lot more that we’re going to have to do in order to become good physicians.”