Christine Smith is a late-in-life career changer. In her early 40s, after a career in nursing, she returned to school and earned a doctorate 10 years later.

“A Ph.D. was on my list of things to do before I die, and I was working quite actively down my list,” said Dr. Smith, who has a doctorate in nursing.

Photo by Dan Henry -- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student Dawn Trundle, UTC nurse practitioner Lynn Grotefendt and UTC student Jihan Lebovitz, from left, speak with UTC interim director of the student health center Christine Smith. Ms. Smith left her job as a registered nurse to pursue a teaching degree when in her early 40s.

Today, Dr. Smith is coordinator of the family nurse practitioner concentration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s nursing school and interim director of the UTC Student Health Center.

“We’re very proud of Chris and her endless, boundless energy,” said nursing school director Kay Russell Lindgren. “Chris assumed the directorship of the Student Health Clinic while coordinating the family nurse practitioner program, which has grown under her leadership.”

Dr. Smith was born in Jersey City, N.J. and moved to Chattanooga at 11.

After working as a registered nurse for many years, she began working on a master’s degree in nursing while in her early 40s.

“When I got my master’s, my kids were still in grade and middle school. That was very good for me and for my family — they were in school at the same time I was in school. When it was time to do homework, everybody was doing homework,” Dr. Smith said.

In 2001, she combined nursing and teaching as the Kay K. Chitty Professor, a joint appointment shared between UTC and Memorial Hospital.

This “blended” role continues to this day, as she still carries out clinical work one day a week.

In 2006, she completed her Ph.D. studies. Her doctoral degree focused on nursing mentors.

“I found that nurses unknowingly mentor new grads, and it makes sense. It goes with the role,” Dr. Smith said.

Among her many awards are the Outstanding Service and Outreach Award for 2005-2006 from her colleagues at UTC and the 2007 GPS Outstanding Alumna award.

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This spring, three papers authored or co-authored by Dr. Smith went to press, among them: “Traveling to Developing Countries. Understanding The Risks For Malaria For Your Patients” in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners.

Late-in-life career changes are not uncommon in nursing, said Dr. Lindgren, who has a doctorate in nursing.

“Women often get to a point where their children are grown and they either want to start a career or pick up a career they left off,” Dr. Lindgren said.

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Balancing work and family can be stressful. But Dr. Smith said she had help.

“I was fortunate. I had very good family support and I missed very few things,” she said.

As many young people will be facing a life with several career changes, she offered advice:

“Find something you really like doing — it’s difficult in this economy to say ‘don’t tie it to a paycheck,’ but if you can do something you don’t dread getting up in the morning and going to work for, I think that does a lot for your soul,” Dr. Smith said.

“I love my job,” she added. “It’s a great job. I wish everybody would find a job that’s as fulfilling and fun as the job I have. Of course if you wanted to double or triple my salary, I wouldn’t mind.”