Clay Cockrell N.P.C.

claytonAs a small child I was always interested in medicine. My sisters would bring me their stuffed animals to me to bandage, perform surgery, and run yarn from their wrists for IVs. I have always excelled in science. I can remember being in the 6th grade and reading my mother’s college biology book for fun, but math was another story. I despise it to this day (particularly, geometry and trigonometry).

I graduated from Haleyville High School and soon enrolled in college as Pre-Med. I became sick toward the end of my sophomore year and decided to seek help from my physician at the time. He happened to be out of the office that day, but his nurse practitioner was in. And though I had never seen a practitioner before, I found her to be approachable and thorough. We began talking about my schooling and my concern that I was going to be over thirty and probably just finishing school and starting a family. She asked me if I had ever considered being a nurse practitioner. To be honest, I hadn’t. After that visit I began researching and was relieved to find that I could work as a nurse and put myself through school at the same time. I would be able to embrace two different facets of learning; gaining knowledge through the hands on work experience of a nurse, as well as the training I received in my college courses.

I then enrolled in an associate degree nursing program and really enjoyed it. As soon as I graduated, I started working to pay off my schooling and focused on to getting enrolled in a bachelor’s program. I was accepted into the early decision registered nurse to nurse practitioner program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville Family Practice Program.

In the second year of my master’s program, I married. Shortly there after, I passed my boards and began working in a pediatric clinic in Sheffield, Alabama. While working there, my wife happened to be looking through the Journal Record (local news paper) and saw an ad for an employment opportunity with Boyett Health Services. Being much closer to home and finding Dr. Boyett’s forward thinking to be impressive, I quickly applied. It was not long before I was offered a position, which I gladly accepted and I have now been a part of the Boyett Health Services family since 2007. It’s been a great experience.

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