She also served as Acting Medical Center Director for the Providence VAMC from July 2017 to March 2018. Previously Ms. Clare Sears served as the Chief of the Social Work Service and Geriatrics and Extended Care from 2009. She began her career with the VA in Providence in May 1996, as a graduate social work intern in both primary care and mental health. After graduation, she worked at two community hospitals, and then returned to Providence VAMC in April 2001. Ms. Clare Sears holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a Master of Social Work (clinical concentration) at Boston College, and a Master of Business Administration (management concentration) from Salve Regina University.