CLEVELAND — As Women's History Month is coming to an end, News 5 is highlighting one amazing woman in our community who's not only making a difference through her daily work but has proven it's never too late to go after your dreams.
Forty years ago, Dr. Cholene Espinoza wouldn’t believe she would be delivering babies at Cleveland Clinic in 2024.
“I was definitely not the top of my class — quite the opposite,” said Espinoza.
Espinoza's path to medicine has been unconventional, to say the least. Born and raised in New Mexico, she overcame her grade school challenges.
“I really struggled in school, particularly in elementary school," Espinoza said. " I was always the kid they were thinking about holding back a year. Finally, I decided in my head one day, that I told my mom that I don't want to be a loser anymore.”
Following high school, Espinoza got accepted into the United States Air Force Academy.
“Flying I would say is the only thing that ever only came naturally to me,” Espinoza added.
At the time, she felt the Air Force had the most opportunities for women out of all the other armed services. Women couldn't fly combat but could fly jets, and Espinoza's aviation career took off.
“The beauty of aviation and it's true in surgery as well and medicine is the plane doesn't care if you're a man or woman,” said Espinoza. “It's whether you can fly or not, so it's very objective.”
In 1991, the U.S. Senate voted to remove the ban on women flying combat. Espinoza was then selected to join the prestigious Reconnaissance Squadron to fly the elite U-2 spy plane. The U-2 is designed to avoid enemy detection, flying on the edge of the earth's atmosphere and gathering vital intelligence. The sky-high view gave her an unforgettable outlook on life.
“I flew over a number of war zones, and here I am in my U-2 alone, and in this space suit and seeing the vast expanse of the beauty and you can see below you the explosions and knowing that someone is dying, that puts things in perspective,” Espinoza added.
After her Air Force career, in 1995, Espinoza transited into commercial flying, becoming a captain for United Airlines, but on Sept. 11, 2001, she had another shift in perspective.
“My classmate, Leroy Homer, was a copilot on Flight 93,” said Espinoza. “I was supposed to be on that aircraft commuting out to California as a passenger. Because I flew too many hours at a time, they diverted my schedule, so I wasn't actually on that.”
The 9-11 terrorist attacks brought another calling of service to Espinoza. She headed overseas to Iraq serving as a war correspondent in 2003. As years passed and the war continued, it showed her what she really wanted to do with her life.
“The conduit of that human connection even in war was medicine.” Espinoza said.
At 45, Espinoza hit the books again, took pre-med classes, and got into medical school.
“Then I graduated when I was 50 years old, so I have the distinction of being the only women to start OB-GYN residency and menopause in the same year,” Espinoza laughed.
Espinoza practices now at Cleveland Clinic, specializing in critical care and obstetrics and gynecology. She feels all her life experiences, good and bad, have prepared her for this latest mission.
“I feel like I am not afraid to fail because I experienced all of this failure and inadequacy early in life,” Espinoza said. “Then that kind of set me up to take risks maybe I wouldn't have if I was good at everything to begin with.”
Espinoza's message for women is that there is no timetable for living your fullest life, achieving goals, or changing career paths. She's living proof.
“I think a lot of times, we say no to ourselves,” added Espinoza. “We convince ourselves, we can't do this because I have kids, I am too old, I don't have enough time, or I am not smart enough. I am telling you, you have enough time; you are smart enough."
So, what's next for Espinoza? She wants to continue her non-profit work and help her colleagues in the medical field achieve their goals.
