Feeling that there was a lack of caring doctors, but also thinking she would not be able to afford medical school, she decided to become a teacher.

In 1943, she entered an accelerated program at Howard University College of Medicine, and graduated with her medical degree in 1947.

She later worked at the Mental Hygiene Clinic at Women's and Children's Hospital, and consulted for the Illinois School for the Deaf.

[4] In 1960, she took a position at Michael Reese Hospital,[6] where she was an attending psychiatrist and the chief of the Child Psychiatry Clinic until 1968.

During this time, she also taught at Illinois College of Medicine as an assistant professor, and ran a private practice.

[3] In 1968, Spurlock left her position at Michael Reese Hospital to become the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Meharry Medical College.

She was a member of the boards of directors of the Carnegie Corporation, National Urban League, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Delta Adult Literacy Council.

[4] Spurlock served on editorial boards, and she wrote academic articles, particularly on sexism, racism, and cultural misunderstanding within mental health.

She published Culturally Diverse Children and Adolescents: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment with Ian A. Canino in 1994.