Dr. David Klein celebrates 50 years in medicine

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Doctor David Klein was born and raised in Coshocton, Ohio, with a passion for helping people from a young age. He discovered this drive for helping others while playing with other kids in his neighborhood.

“Back a really long time ago, when I was a little kid, neighbors and I were playing a game and it was his property and so he got to make all the rules,” Klein said. “And he got to be the captain of the ship and he said ‘you can be the ships doctor.’ Well I was a little disappointed with that. But, got to do things and of course you’re pretending, so I would do fix, fix and fix, fix and I got to make people feel better. And I thought ‘well that’s kind of a neat thing.'”

He grew up, got his medical doctorate in 6 years through an intense, no summers off program. He did his internship and residency in Buffalo, New York, where he remembers working 120 hours a week during the harsher times. After that, he found his way to Zanesville, where he’s been practicing for 50 years.

Since moving to Zanesville, he’s done private practice, occupational medicine, and spent some time as a deputy coroner. Klein credits this diverse work experience for being able to practice for 50 years.

“I’ve tried to do different sorts of things and kept myself from burning out in any one particular area and I think that’s one of the keys to it. Because, if you do the same thing, it gets old hat, you got to innovate,” Klein said.

Klein plans on retiring from MVHC and Genesis by the end of the year and looks forward to reading, guiding tours at the John and Annie Glenn Museum, and getting back into woodworking.