A Pioneering Career

From the time she was a child, Lorraine King, MD, REN ’77, had three desires: to make music, heal the sick, and soar the skies. Although she’s checked off all those boxes, she says she’s not done yet.

“I don’t look at retirement as an end; it’s just a new beginning,” she says.

King, who retired in December 2019, spent 49 years at Jefferson blazing medical trails, serving in leadership positions within administrations, and establishing a scholarship fund that provides the next generation of physicians with the financial means to attend medical school.

Sitting in the serene, sunlit living room of her seaside Stone Harbor, New Jersey, home, with her beloved 13-year-old toy poodle, Jorgi, on her lap, King, recalls the past with fondness and regards the future with a sense of eager anticipation.

She became a doctor at a time when opportunities for women in the medical profession were predominantly limited to nursing. She studied classical music when female professional concert pianists were few and far between. And she took to the skies when aviation was a man’s world.

“I was never a follower. I always wanted to do my own thing,” she says.

Born and raised in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, King was introduced to the medical profession by her grandmother, an Irish immigrant who was trained as a nurse in Belfast, and practiced in Philadelphia.

At the time, she was intrigued by both medicine and aviation. “But in that era, I was directed toward becoming a nurse or stewardess rather than a physician or aviator,” she says. A third career option was still on the table—that of a classical musician, as she was a bit of a prodigy on piano and violin.

By the time she got to high school, King made up her mind—she wanted to go to medical school. But she had some doubts. Her father’s health was failing, and the family’s financial situation was tenuous.

She brought her concerns to her father, a blue-collar railroad worker. He sat her down at the dining room table, where the family would often gather for important discussions.

“He told me: ‘You can do anything that you want to do. Always remember that!’” she says. “I never forgot those words, and I took them to heart.”

King says her father was “quite a role model”—one of many role models and mentors that would go on to shape her life—and her life’s work.

One of the most influential mentors in King’s career was alumnus Alfred H. Diebel, MD 1927. Diebel not only delivered King, but cared for her family throughout their lives. He noticed the young girl’s interest in medicine early on.

“He recognized my desire to go into medical school, and took me under his wing like a daughter,” she recalls fondly. When she was just 16 years old, Diebel invited her into the operating room to observe surgeries, and into the delivery room to witness births.

Reaching for Her Dreams

King graduated first in her class in high school, and accepted a full-tuition scholarship to Temple University, enrolling as biology major and setting her sights on a career as a physician. When her father died in 1962, she switched her major to medical technology so that she would be able to get a job in order to work her way through medical school. At the same time, her mother returned to work to help King continue her education. She describes the mother-daughter relationship as close and loving, and credits her mother with helping her succeed. “Her love, inner strength, and pure courage was truly the wind beneath my wings.”

After three years of working, she had only enough to pay for her first year of medical school, but enrolled in the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, which was later absorbed by the Drexel University College of Medicine. At the end of her first year, King received scholarship assistance for the remainder of her education.

She credits another mentor—Abraham Rakoff, MD, a 1937 graduate of Jefferson Medical College—with “making” her career. Rakoff was a nationally known fertility specialist and the first head of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Jefferson when the division was created in 1971.

When King chose to do her residency in obstetrics/gynecology at Jefferson, she became Rakoff’s mentee, shadowing the doctor on rounds, taking notes for him, following patients' progress, and lab studies, participating in his research, and absorbing all she could.

She followed up her residency with a fellowship in gynecologic endocrinology. At the urging of Rakoff, King applied for, and received, an NIH grant in the field; it was the first NIH-approved fellowship in the field of reproductive endocrinology awarded at Jefferson. She completed her research through the grant under Savino A. D'Angelo, PhD, professor of Anatomy and a leader in neuro-endocrine research. Upon completion of her fellowship, she joined the medical staff and began her practice at Jefferson.

While she never kept count of all the women she helped to have babies, she estimates it’s in the thousands, judging by the overflowing boxes and bags of letters, baby photos, and cards she has kept over the years.

“There’s no greater feeling in the world than to be able to help a couple bring a life into the world,” she says.

To Infinity—And Beyond

Once her career path was on solid ground, King felt there was another path yet to conquer—the flight path.

“Flying was always there in the back of my head,” she says. Her cousin-in-law was a flight instructor and, after a few years of cajoling, in 1979 he finally agreed to give her flying lessons.

“But first he said I needed a plane,” she remembers. “So I bought one!” It was a slightly used Cessna four-seater.

She says she had no trepidation in taking to the skies, but admits that it “takes courage and confidence.”

“It’s an incredible feeling of freedom,” she says. “It’s a heavenly feeling when you’re up there alone. It’s very, very peaceful. It’s the closest thing you can imagine to really being with our Maker.”

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

King has never forgotten the generous benefactors whose scholarships helped her become a doctor. Now, she is paying that kindness forward by becoming a benefactor. In 2016, she established the endowed Lorraine C. King, MD, Scholars Scholarship Fund; upon retirement, she committed an additional $4.5 million to the endowment.

“I was awarded the opportunity to continue my studies, to achieve my dream," she says. "I wanted to enable others to be able to achieve what I’ve been able to in my lifetime—with the hope that they will remember, and in the future give back.”

The scholarship, she says, is part of her Jefferson legacy. And while she is at a time in her life when she is giving a lot of thought to what she leaves behind, she is also thinking of what’s ahead.

She plans on staying involved at Jefferson, and devoting time to two other constants in her life: her church, and her volunteer work with the poodle rescue organization through which she found Jorgi.

King has owned a number of small dogs over the years. When she adopted Jorgi three years ago, she ended up volunteering as a consultant with the rescue organization. She jokes that her second new career extends to helping care for abandoned pets.

When King reflects on her life and career so far, she sums it up with one word: “Exciting.” After a moment, she adds, “And truly blessed.”

“There will be a lot of quiet walks on the beach in the morning,” she says. “Just me, Jorgi, and my Lord.”