Alumni Spotlight: Teresa Clabots, (SSE ’75)

Former Pediatric Endocrinolgoist  

Teresa Clabots, M.D., (SSE '75) always dreamed of helping people through the power of medicine. She studied chemistry at Saint Louis University with her goals in mind, using the knowledge from her coursework to inch closer to medical school. She reminisced about her experiences, noting that SLU’s faculty and staff helped her mind blossom in unexpected ways. 

“I would dream about calculus at night and have the problem solved in the morning when I got up,” Clabots said.

After completing her studies and her subsequent residency, her family moved to Lakewood, Washington, where she provided charitable care to families in need. She treated children with hormone disorders — managing enzyme deficiencies and handling insulin requirements.

She gradually built a strong practice for herself in Lakewood, often serving Hispanic and immigrant populations due to her bilingual background. Clabots shared that each patient she helped stuck with her all these years.

“I had some very rewarding experiences attending deliveries and also advocating for my patients to get medical care like machines or equipment that they needed,” Clabots said.

After retiring four years ago, she was proud to pass her compassionate nature to her children. Four of them pursued a career in health care, concentrating in audiology, physical therapy, nursing and infectious disease.