Local Doctor Gets His Start at the JVS
Eric Lockhart, M.D., Industrial Equipment Mechanics, Class of: 1978
As a child, Eric Lockhart would regularly visit his physician’s office on Cleveland Avenue in his native Amherst. Little did he know that he would still be making regular trips to an Amherst doctor’s office many years later…not as a patient, but as Eric R. Lockhart, M.D.
Eric is a 1978 graduate of Lorain County JVS and living proof that a vocational education can be a great foundation for any occupation. His career pursuit, however, did not result from traveling the traditional road to medical school.
He enrolled at the JVS after being disillusioned with traditional high school. Lockhart had always enjoyed working with his hands and entered the Recreational Vehicle Repair Program (now being taught as part of Industrial Equipment Mechanics) to finish his final two years of high school.
“Deciding to go to the JVS was one of the best things I’ve ever done,” confirmed Lockhart. “Everyone at the school was great and the courses were excellent.”
After high school graduation, Lockhart earned an Associates Degree at Lorain County Community College. He then entered the College of Pharmacy at Ohio State University.
It was during his pharmacy internship that he decided he wanted to do more than fill prescriptions. In June of 1987 he earned his M.D. degree from Ohio State School of Medicine and has been in family practice in Amherst, Ohio for almost 12 years. Lockhart is currently one of 15 doctors in the Tri-City Family Medicine Practice, working out of the Amherst office on Cooper Foster Park Road.
What advice would Lockhart offer to high school students facing career choices today? “Set your goals, make a commitment and don’t let anything get in your way.”
“I came from a low income family, with no father in the house,” confided Lockhart. “If someone would have told me when I was 16 that I would eventually become a physician I never would have believed them. If you are really committed,” continued Lockhart, “you can do anything.”
With his JVS vocational training certificate proudly displayed on his office wall, Lockhart declares, “If I had to do it all over again, I’d make the same decision to go to the Lorain County JVS!”