by Robert Joseph Baker | July 7, 2017 4:41 am

Last Updated: July 2, 2017 at 10:00 pm

Dr. Clarence E. Coker Jr. sits in his former office on Sunset Drive and South Boundary Street, with his wife, Sandra, standing by his side. Coker had only just begun his practice in Manning four days prior to this picture, which was featured in the July 13, 1967, edition of The Manning Times. The Turbeville native will celebrate 50 years in medicine Monday.

When Dr. Clarence E. Coker Jr. opened began his medical practice in Manning, he told The Manning Times that he planned to treat the skin and its contents from the cradle to the grave. For 50 years, Coker has done just that. The Turbeville native celebrates five decades in practice Monday. Its a blessing to remain healthy enough to do that, make it 50 years in medicine, he said. Ive had good support from my lovely wife and family, a lot of friends and great staff over the years. Coker graduated from East Clarendon High School in 1955, and received a degree in ceramic injury from Clemson University in 1959. He served a six-month tour of active duty in the U.S. Army before ultimately deciding on a career in medicine. Honestly, there was an independence that I thought I saw in working physicians, said Coker in late June at his office at Palmetto Primary Care, which is under the supervision of McLeod Physician Associates and McLeod Health Clarendon. Back then, there was a lot of freedom. Now, we belong to the government and the insurance companies. So, now its somewhat of a paradox because I was always looking for that independence. Today, its not as independent. Medicine is also more about technology than it was 50 years ago. Computers have taken everything over, Coker said. We now spend more time with the computer than we do with the patient. But what hasnt changed, Coker said, is the personal relationship a physician builds with his patients. Theres a definite personal relationship there, he said. You have the chance to see people at their worst; you have the chance to help these people. Coker attended the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston now the Medical University of South Carolina and studied for an extra year in internal medicine. I also went to Grady College and did a rotation there, which included delivering babies, he said. That made me more confident in what I was doing. After his studies and training, Coker moved straight to Manning from Mt. Pleasant. I had worked at the Medical University as a resident, he said. I moved straight to Manning, moved into a house and then opened an office in an old rented residence we set up as an office. That office was on the corner of South Boundary and Sunset streets, directly across from Hardees. Of course, none of that was there then, Coker said. Coker moved to his current office on Bozard Street behind the Manning IGA in August 1970. Ive been here in this building for the majority of my career, 47 years now, said Coker. Coker said he enjoys seeing his patients. He has guided many of them from childhood to young adulthood to life as senior citizens. The tough, complicated cases are heartbreaking, he said. You have the reality sometimes that comes from the realization of certain diagnoses, and you have to be there for the patients. Coker said he is sometimes frustrated with certain patients. You have patients who dont listen to you, he said. Theres a failure to follow instructions and requests, which is referred to in our field as non-compliance. People dont take their medications or follow their diets or dont exercise like theyre supposed to. You just have to try to continue working with them. Coker said in the last few years, hes seen more issues with obesity in general. That carries with it cholesterol, heart, diabetes and high blood pressure problems, he said. I think without the obesity, we would be more healthy today than we were 50 years ago when I first started in medicine. A positive change Coker has seen in his five decades includes great strides in infectious diseases. Weve made great progress in either eradicating such diseases or finding treatments for them that help more patients live, he said. Of course, we are finding new viruses being discovered each and every day. Fifty years ago, you wouldnt have heard anything about flesh-eating bacteria, for example. Coker said medicine is also more specialized than when he started out. Back when I began practice, doctors didnt specialize as much as they do today, he said. You would have doctors who worked primarily in internal or family medicine and they would see an array of patients. Coker is married to Sandra Jordan Coker, who assisted him in his office so many years ago. The couple has five children and 19 grandchildren. A member of First Baptist Church in Manning, Coker sings in the choir. He enjoys yard work, gardening and attending to his grandchildren. We also like to do a bit of travel, my wife and I, he said. In recent years, we have traveled to France and Normandy. On a separate trip, we went to England, Ireland and Scotland. Weve also been to western Canada and Alaska and other places in North America. And having reached such a milestone in his medical practice, Coker has no plans to retire. I have no definite plans to retire, he said. Ive thought about it, of course, but I will get past the 50-year mark and then go from there.

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Coker to celebrate 50 years in medicine - Manning Live