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November 03, 2025
A 10-year-old boy sat across from Dr. Kalaki Clarke, MD during her psychiatry rotation, and she saw herself. Smart, charming, good grades but couldn't get it together. That's when she knew she had ADHD too.
Dr. Clarke was in her first year of residency at UC Irvine, working 80-hour weeks in a system designed to test you constantly. She'd been the good kid, the high achiever, the one who always kept it together. But in residency, surrounded by neurotypical colleagues, sleep-deprived, and constantly performing, the mask finally came off. Her 2015 diagnosis became a turning point, launching her into advocacy for physicians with ADHD. She helped craft equity guidelines for neurodivergent resident physicians, spoke at the International Conference on ADHD, and delivered a TEDx talk called "Seeing is Freeing: How Observation Releases ADHD Potential."
Now, as a board-certified family physician and Associate Professor of Medical Education at USC's Keck School of Medicine, Dr. Clarke spends her time providing care for underserved communities in Los Angeles while shaping the next generation of doctors.
In this conversation, Dr. Clarke and Tracy talk about what it's like to have ADHD in a profession that demands perfection and how "seeing is freeing" applies to both patients and physicians. Dr. Clarke introduces her CAT method (Capture, Analyze, Transform), a framework for turning struggles into strategies. She also talks about leading by example, why she came out publicly about her ADHD at work, and what it means to create space for others to be seen when you've spent so long feeling invisible yourself.
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“Seeing is freeing. When you see yourself without shame and others see you without judgment, your potential is released. You can’t access your brilliance while you’re busy hiding.”
- Dr. Kalaki Clarke
“Someone's ignorance of your diagnosis does not negate your lived experience of it. Your experience is real.”
- Dr. Kalaki Clarke
“CAT: Capture, Analyze, Transform. Notice your patterns and build strategies that fit how your brain works.”
-- Dr. Kalaki Clarke
"When you’re in denial, you’re not seeing yourself. When you’re ashamed, you’re not seeing yourself. Your potential can’t be released until you do."
-- Dr. Kalaki Clarke
"ADHD doesn’t go away. No matter what month it is, we keep learning how to work with it."
- Dr. Kalaki Clarke
"The message was bigger than my mess. My purpose is bigger than my chaos. That's what I want people to understand."
- Dr. Kalaki Clarke
- Dr. Kalaki Clarke, MD was diagnosed with ADHD at 35 during family medicine residency after graduating medical school in 2005, experiencing a mental health crisis during her first year of internal medicine that led to crashing out of the program.
- She returned to residency 10 years later after practicing for seven years without full certification, driven by determination to become board certified, but struggled with losing things constantly, freezing when asked questions, and working late when it was quiet.
- A 10-year-old boy during her psychiatry rotation was "filling out her life in his actions"—smart, charming, good grades, but couldn't get it together—leading her to deep dive into ADHD research and self-diagnose before official confirmation.
- Dr. Kalaki developed the CAT method: Capture (identify the challenge without judgment), Analyze (observe what's happening and why), and Transform (find solutions based on observations), applicable to both ADHD individuals and neurotypicals supporting them.
- She reveals the devastating statistic that one doctor dies by suicide every day, with 300-400 physicians, medical students, or residents annually, emphasizing the pressure to be perfect creates the very conditions that increase mental health struggles.
- Her residency training was traumatic with 80+ hour work weeks and constant performance pressure, but she advocates that improvements in resident support and self-care awareness can prevent future tragedies rather than perpetuating "you're spoiled babies" mentality.
[01:00:00 - 01:28:15] Coming Out and the TEDx Talk Chaos
- Dr. Kalaki decided to publicly unmask her ADHD diagnosis to lead by example, believing leaders must show vulnerability first since power dynamics prevent others from feeling safe to share despite being told "it's okay."
- She was 30 minutes late to her own TEDx talk after leaving during intermission to buy press-on nails at Target, getting lost with a dead phone battery, and arriving to see people leaving—yet delivered the talk without slides or proper microphone.
- Despite the chaotic arrival, her message "seeing is freeing" emphasizes that observation without judgment releases ADHD potential, and being seen by others without shame allows people to stop masking and access their true strengths.
ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem.
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- Linkedin: kmclarkemd
- Instagram: this_md_kalaki
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKmRyxlas3I