Last month, High Country Healthcare announced Dr. Patricia Clark-Capo as the newest addition to its team of OB/GYN specialists in Frisco.

The new job is just the latest in a series of life changing events to happen to Clark-Capo, 32, in the last several months.

In addition to last month’s move to Colorado, Clark-Capo was married in May to her longtime boyfriend Dr. Jason Capo, an orthopedic surgeon. Just prior to the wedding the couple returned to the U.S. from New Zealand, where Capo was involved in a one-year fellowship and where Clark-Capo practiced general obstetrics and gynecology at the National Women’s Health Center at Auckland City hospital in Auckland, New Zealand.

Although it might seem like Clark-Capo is a seasoned traveler, she said Thursday there was a time when she rarely ventured far from home.

“I hadn’t ever been on a plane, let alone traveled anywhere, until I left home for college,” Clark-Capo said. “College was a big change for me, but I think it’s a big change for everybody.”

What made the transition to college a little different for Clark-Capo than the typical high school graduate is her ancestral background. Clark-Capo is a member of the Ojibwe people and she was raised on the White Earth Indian Reservation, a farming community located in rural, northwest Minnesota.

Although Clark-Capo had a typical childhood of riding four-wheelers, fishing and hunting, she said growing up on a Native American reservation could feel isolated. The nearest city with any kind of population density was an entire state away in Fargo, N.D.

“People are always interested in learning what it was like to grow up on an Indian reservation, but for me it was just life,” Clark-Capo said. “I really didn’t know anything different until I left.”

Coincidentally, Fargo also is where Clark-Capo decided to go to college, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from North Dakota State University before earning her doctor of medicine from the Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minn.

While at High Country Healthcare, Clark-Capo plans to continue her general obstetrics and gynecology practices. She also specializes in performing minimally invasive laparoscopic surgeries and has past experience with the CenteringPregnancy program.

CenteringPregnancy is a program where expecting mothers can participate in group classes in addition to one-on-one time with a doctor.

“It’s a great program because it allows mothers to develop a support system and a circle of new friends, which used to not happen until it was time to enroll a child in daycare,” said CEO Rhonda Koehn. “We were thrilled when we found Tricia because we knew she had experience with CenteringPregnancy from her residency.”

And so far, Clark-Capo said she’s enjoying mountain life. She’s also been impressed with the community’s commitment to its health.

“This is the friendliest place I’ve been since leaving New Zealand,” Clark-Capo said. “The population here is great and the patients I have seen so far are really educated and really proactive in their health and well-being.

“They know what they want and what they don’t want. I’m enjoying the fact that they have an opinion. As long as they’re not hurting their babies I’m all for it.”

For more information about Clark-Capo or to make an appointment, call 668-5771 or visit http://www.highcountryhealth.com