It all started with a tennis match at the University of Florida, where Arthur met his future wife, Trish. Set up by a friend who sensed they’d connect, Arthur showed up having nervously practiced his serve for days. More than four decades later, they’re still each other’s best teammate—both dedicated to elevating women’s voices in their own ways.
A Humbling Recognition
Recently, Dr. Clements received the Anne’s College Distinguished Alumni Award. His wife Trish, a historian and preservationist who has spent decades documenting Florida women’s contributions to our state, received the same honor back in 2018. They’re the only married couple in the college’s history to both be recognized this way. For Dr. Clements, though, the real honor has always been showing up for his patients every day.
How North Florida Women's Care Began
After completing his doctorate in Clinical Nutrition at Florida State, Dr. Clements opened our doors in 1985 with a simple mission: provide women with healthcare that truly hears them. Nearly 40 years later, we’ve grown into North Florida’s largest women’s health provider, but that core value hasn’t changed.
Dr. Clements traces his passion for nutrition back to an unforgettable undergraduate class—the kind where the professor’s energy was so contagious you couldn’t help but lean in. That spark led him to realize something important: nutrition wasn’t just a side note in medicine. It was foundational to how we understand health, especially for women.
His graduate work at FSU opened his eyes to something else. Working in an extended care facility, he noticed the residents were overwhelmingly women who outlived their male counterparts but faced challenges like osteoporosis and muscle loss that few were addressing. That observation helped shape his entire career focus.
Care That Starts With Listening
Ask Dr. Clements about his approach to medicine, and he’ll share something one of his professors at Tulane taught him: Give your patients enough time, and they’ll guide you toward their diagnosis. Give them even more time, and they’ll help you understand how to help them heal.
That’s how we practice here. We listen first.
Everyone on the Team Matters
What Dr. Clements is most proud of isn’t any individual achievement—it’s the culture we’ve built together at North Florida Women’s Care. Here, every team member knows their role matters, from the person who greets you at the front desk to our clinical staff to everyone in between.
“Everyone deserves respect and needs to know they’re contributing something meaningful,” Dr. Clements says. It’s a philosophy that’s shaped not just our practice, but his work throughout the community.
Over the years, he’s served in leadership roles at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, the Florida OB/GYN Society, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. What he considers most fulfilling, though, has been helping launch the FSU College of Medicine back in 2000—mentoring the next generation of physicians and building the OB/GYN program from the ground up.
Dr. Trish Clements: Preserving Women's History
While Dr. Clements was building our practice, his wife Trish was doing equally important work in her own field—preserving Florida’s women’s history. With a doctorate from FSU, she’s spent over 30 years documenting the women who shaped our state, founding the Florida First Ladies’ Gown Collection and leading organizations dedicated to recognizing women’s contributions.
What Drives Him
Dr. Clements’ wife Trish, who has dedicated her career to preserving women’s history in Florida, says her husband has a habit of thinking about everyone else—his patients, his staff, his students—before he thinks about himself.
Together, they raised two daughters here in Tallahassee. Claire now works at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, and Meredith teaches at the University of Tampa. Their advice to their daughters has always been straightforward: Work hard, but never forget that family comes first.
Our Commitment to You
Dr. Clements’ story reminds us why we do what we do. At North Florida Women’s Care, we’re here to listen, to provide care rooted in the latest science and nutrition research, and to make sure every woman who walks through our doors feels heard and respected.
That’s been our promise since 1985, and it’s the legacy we’re committed to continuing—one patient, one conversation, one life at a time.
Schedule a visit today by clicking the “Schedule Now” button or by calling us at 850-877-7241.
This post is adapted from a feature originally published by FSU’s Anne’s College. You can read the full article by clicking here.
Photos by Colton Flynn/FSU Anne’s College.
