Cam’ron Klotz had a rough start to the first year of education toward his childhood dream of becoming a doctor.
Klotz was late arriving to Charles E. Brimm Medical Arts High School in Camdenmost mornings because he had to ready his younger siblings for school before getting himself to class. He was flunking first-period health and physical education as a result.
After a stern warning from his teacher, Karen Borrelli, Klotz buckled down. He graduated at the top of his class in 2018.
“I took the challenge and said I was going to be the best,” he recalled in a recent interview. “I didn’t want to fail.”
Now, Klotz has embarked on another step in his journey to pursue his dream. He is a first-year medical student at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden.
“He’s an amazing young man,” said his mentor, Brian McAuley, a cardiologist at Reading Hospital. “I think he will be able to provide inspiring care.”
‘Nothing we accomplish is done alone’
A first-generation college graduate, Klotz credits his success to a village of supporters and hopes his story will inspire and encourage other Camden youngsters to get an education. He also wants to be a role model for his 10 younger siblings.
Klotz’s journey began when he was a sixth grader at the Riletta T. Cream Elementary School. Along with his best friend, Jeremiah Garcia, Klotz attended an after-school tutoring program started by McAuley, then a Cooper medical student, in 2012. Both wanted to become doctors.
“We wanted to stand out. We wanted to be the example,” Garcia said. “Even though we come from Camden, we can still persevere.”
McAuley recruited other medical students to help, and the program expanded. Besides helping with homework, they added a reading program and provided healthy meals.
The experience resonated with Klotz, now 25.
“I thought, ‘I want to be one of them one day,’” he said. “That really set me off.”
Klotz and Garcia showed up faithfully, and McAuley took both under his wing. He kept in touch with Klotz over the years and McAuley wrote his medical school recommendation and purchased a suit for his admissions interview.
“He’s more than anyone else ever could be,” McAuley said. “Having a doctor like him is going to help so many people.”
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Klotz grew up in the city’s Centerville neighborhood, raised by a single mother, Maria Navarro. He was inspired to pursue medicine by her career as a home health aide.
“She really made an effort to really get to know them, be there for them when no one else was there,” he said. “For me, personally, I enjoy that and I enjoy giving back.”
Navarro, 45, said she, too, had aspired to become a doctor. She had her son at 19, and tried to instill in Cam’ron a caring spirit.
“It’s like God has a sense of humor. He will use your children to carry out your dreams,” she said. “I’m just amazed at the man he has become.”
As the eldest, Klotz was a nurturer for his siblings. His father spent half his life in jail for drug and weapon offenses. His paternal grandfather stood in the gap.
While attending Brimm, Klotz worked part-time to help support his family. After his rocky start freshman year, he rebounded academically, telling Borrelli, “‘I’m going to be the best student you ever had,’” his former teacher recalled.
“He was one of the smartest kids that ever attended Brimm,” one of two magnet schools in Camden, Borrelli said.
Klotz took AP classes and earned 12 college credits. In his valedictorian speech, he thanked Borrelli, his mother, and teachers and mentors who helped him.
“Nothing we accomplish is done alone,” he said in the speech, a sentiment that he would recall regularly during tough times.
‘I’m good enough’
Klotz enrolled in Rowan University along with Garcia, his best friend since second grade. Garcia switched majors sophomore year from premed to psychology.
A biochemistry major, Klotz had a rough transition. He felt out of place at Rowan, where he was often the only student of color in some classes. His GPA dropped from 4.0 to 2.4
Then he had an epiphany. He stopped worrying about whether his classmates were smarter or whether they liked him.
“I’m good enough. I belong here,” he recalled thinking.
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Klotz and Garcia graduated from Rowan in 2022 and, for the first time, went their separate ways. Klotz enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania to obtain a master’s in public health, and Garcia got his graduate degree at Rowan.
After working for three years at a nonprofit in Camden, Klotz began thinking about medical school. He scored poorly on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) the first time. His adviser discouraged him from trying again.
“It felt impossible,” he said. “You could literally give up.”
He took the exam again a year later and his score improved. He was accepted at Cooper Medical School and Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine.
“I cried,” he said simply.
A white coat and a stethoscope
In August, Klotz and 117 others donned white coats in a ceremony at Cooper, marking their official entry into the medical profession. He is among the oldest students in the class, scheduled to graduate in 2029.
Klotz was disappointed that his mother was unable to attend the ceremony. But his village was there: his paternal grandfather, Charles Klotz Sr.; his girlfriend, Ashley Floyd, a third-year medical student; Borrelli; and Garcia.
“He worked hard all the time and always said he wanted to be a doctor,” said Winona Wigfar, who mentored Klotz in Rowan’s CHAMP/GEAR UP enrichment program. ”I’m so proud of him.”
Klotz plans to pursue pediatric or emergency medicine. His mentor, Susana D. Collazo, a Brimm alum and a pediatric attending physician at Cooper, sees a promising future.
“He’s going to become a very kind, committed, and compassionate physician,” Collazo said. “This is his calling.”