Katie Stokem, DO

Physician Katie Stokem is board certified in internal, pulmonary and critical care medicine and holds clinical and hospital leadership roles at Central Maine Medical Center. 

But, she said, she still remembers being a shy first-year college student with an interest in science, “medical school in the back of my mind” and a lot of uncertainty about what it would take to get there. 

And she is still in touch with the Russell Sage College professor who helped her figure it out. 

Professor Mary Rea was Katie’s Anatomy and Physiology professor that first year and quickly became her mentor for all things pre-med. 

“There are certain people who really shape your life,” said Katie. “That’s what Mary did for me. She helped me realize that I wanted to go to medical school, that I could go to medical school and here were the steps.”

Katie said Professor Rea helped her identify the classes, leadership opportunities and hands-on experiences that would make her both a competitive applicant and a successful medical student.

When she began University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, Katie realized right away how well Sage’s Biology program had prepared her. 

“A lot of the things we were doing in the first two years were things that I had seen before,” she said. “I had a great foundation in basic science, and I knew how to study.” 

She had also built leadership skills as a Biology teaching assistant, through a long-term job shadowing opportunity in a doctor’s office, and through service as class secretary and president of the Athenian Honor Society. 

“I learned how to advocate for myself in a professional way, which really helped me when I went to medical school,” Katie said. 

Today, she’s an attending physician and medical director of respiratory therapy at Central Maine Medical Center.

“I like that it’s fast paced, that you see all sorts of different things, you do procedures. No two days look the same.”

And she’s grateful to Sage for helping her take medical school from an idea in the back of her mind to a fully-realized accomplishment. 

“Sage offered the perfect amount of autonomy and support,” she said. “It was a place where I grew and developed my leadership skills and a lot of my character.”