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American News, New York, NY, August 8, 2024: “Preventive care is my passion,” said Dr. Karin Lawrence, a Jamaican-born adult health nurse practitioner with more than two decades of experience in preventive medicine at various health centers in New York City and Long Island.
Dr. Karlene Lawrence is a nurse practitioner based in New York but born in Jamaica. (Photo courtesy of Ian Buddington)
Born in St. Thomas, Jamaica, Dr. Lawrence attended Holy Childhood Preparatory School and High School in Kingston, Jamaica, before immigrating to the United States at age 17. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Molloy College in Rockville Centre with the goal of becoming a nurse midwife. After earning graduate degrees in midwifery and women’s health from New York University, she began practicing in outpatient clinics in Queens and Brooklyn. It was at this pivotal moment that her focus shifted. “I realized that my care for my female patients was incomplete because I was unable to care for their male partners. This led me to pursue a graduate certificate in adult nurse practitioners. Over time, I realized that my true passion lay in educating patients on how to prevent disease and achieve wellness, rather than ‘problem-focused’ appointments and treating illness after it had already been diagnosed.”
Dr. Lawrence returned to school in 2017 and received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from SUNY Stony Brook in 2019. During this time, she married educator, musician, and cultural historian LeRoy Graham Jr., who “helped a lot” with Dr. Lawrence raising their three children while she pursued her academic and professional goals.
Dr. Karlene Lawrence and her husband, LeRoy Graham. （Photo courtesy of Ian Buddington）
Among her many honors, she received the Louis and Rachel Rudin Foundation Scholarship, the New York State Advanced Nursing Education Internship Scholarship, and the New York State Primary Care Service Corps Scholarship. She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the International Nursing Honor Society.
Currently, Dr. Lawrence, a Doctor of Nursing Practice/Nurse Practitioner, is the recipient of a multi-million dollar Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The program aims to transform Brooklyn’s healthcare workforce and community by establishing a new health clinic for adults 65 years and older. The clinic will also serve as a training facility for students from all colleges at SUNY Downstate University of Health Sciences.
“Many chronic health problems can be prevented through proper nutrition, adherence to regular checkups and taking medications as recommended, allowing you to live a longer, healthier life free of common illnesses,” Dr. Lawrence said.
She stressed that regular screening for conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and breast, prostate and colon cancers can lead to earlier diagnosis, less complicated treatments, lower healthcare costs and more successful outcomes. “This is why I am passionate about preventive healthcare and wellness. Early in my career, I realized that ‘prevention is better than cure’ is very accurate and applicable. Preventive healthcare became a focus of my practice many years ago and remains so today” – Dr. Karin Lawrence, speaking about healthcare in Jamaica and beyond.
Dr. Lawrence also spoke about challenges in the healthcare system, such as lack of affordable healthcare, payment restrictions by insurance companies, discrimination against various health conditions, and bias against elderly patients and those with mental health issues. “The sad reality is that most people in the world have difficulty understanding healthcare discussions or instructions due to low or no literacy. This hinders achieving the desired goal of preventive healthcare. Unfortunately, the current U.S. health system can be complex and difficult to navigate, a long-standing, complex issue that needs to be addressed immediately to ensure that ‘best care’ is always the goal for all patients.”
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“As a health and wellness educator and speaker, my goal is to increase awareness, understanding, and adherence to recommended preventive health screening guidelines, improve health literacy, and eliminate health disparities. I am also passionate about empowering people to prevent disease, promote health, and maintain health in their own homes through education,” she explains.
However, Dr. Lawrence acknowledged that she cannot achieve Jamaica’s goal of preventive healthcare alone. “Ultimately, we still have to address the challenges in our healthcare system and that will not be done overnight. We must foster the necessary collaboration among all healthcare stakeholders to find more effective healthcare solutions. The lives of our fellow citizens literally depend on it.”
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