BUTLER TWP — When it comes to dealing with stress, Christine Patton has been there, done that.

Patton, 44, is an emergency physician who works the overnight shift in the emergency room at Butler Memorial Hospital.

She served four years of active duty in the United States Air Force, getting promoted to major and working at a military hospital in Iraq.

“Military casualties, Iraqi children ... I saw it all,” Patton said.

So when the opportunity came to “play a little dress-up” recently at the NPC Mid-Atlantic Bodybuilding Show hosted by the Tanglewood Center, she couldn't pass it up.

Patton competed in her first amateur show there in the Figure division.

“My makeup had to be professionally done, my hair had to be done. ... This was all new to me,” Patton said, laughing. “I'm used to wearing scrubs and gym clothes. That's what I'm about.

“Those heels I was wearing? Nothing I would ever buy for myself.”

Yet Patton has always dedicated herself to keeping her body in shape. That's one of the reasons she began going to Harlan's Fitness in Butler on a regular basis.

Her shift at the hospital runs from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m. Before going home in the morning, she goes to the gym for an hour to 90-minute workout, four days a week.

“That's the only way I'm sure I'll get off my butt and get there,” Patton said.

She's been going to Harlan's Fitness since January of 2020.

Personal trainer and professional bodybuilder Theresa Ivancik said Patton was doing a lot of physical workout training with the gym's co-owner, Jeff Harlan.

“They got to talking and Christine saw that we work with a lot of competitors there,” Ivancik said. “She became curious about what it would take to do a show.

“Jeff began training her for competition, I did her diet and she got herself ready.”

Ivancik said cutting down Patton's cardio workouts was the toughest challenge.

“She's a runner. She loves to run. That was a tough sell,” Ivancik admitted.

But the transformation was on.

“I began gearing up for this last June,” Patton said. “I was always into fitness. I've been running for years, lifted some weights at home occasionally.

“I felt like I needed more accountability. I needed a program.”

What she wound up with was a bevy of first-place awards.

Patton took home first placed in the Military, True Novice, Novice, Overall Open and Overall Master (40 and over) classes in the Figure division at the Tanglewood competition.

Her look was like nothing Patton — or Harlan — ever saw before.

“Jeff walked right past her in the back room and didn't recognize her all gussied up and prepped to compete,” Ivancik said. “And he had been working with her for months.”

From wearing scrubs to donning a bikini, from working on a patient to working her look on stage — Patton made the transition.

“Regardless of what I see at work, I have to take a step back and do the job,” Patton said. “I have to focus because I know how important my work is to other people.

“This (show) was for me. I enjoyed that moment. It felt good.”

Patton met her husband, Chris, in middle school. She said he's been “totally supportive” of the entire process.

“He understands the meal prepping, the whole thing,” she said. “And I think he likes the new me.”

So does she.

“There's definitely a possibility I'll do another show,” Patton said. “There's parts of my body that need a little more toned ... I know I can do better.

“I'm curious to see how much better I can do back on that stage again.”