Louisville Medicine Volume 70, Issue 1 | Page 36

DR . WHO Kittie George , MD by KATHRYN VANCE

“ I

got so many stitches when I was little , I always say that ’ s why I went into medicine .”
Growing up in Frankfort , Kentucky , Dr . Kittie George was active in sports from a young age and found herself in more than one doctor ’ s office for getting hurt playing . By the time she hit high school , she was as busy as could be and excelling in various sports - swimming , diving , tennis , track , basketball - it ’ s harder to find a sport that she didn ’ t do than one that she did .
Basketball prevailed as a favorite , though , and she went to college looking to pursue not only strong academics but also a future in sports . As a walk-on at the University of Alabama , she showed her talents early and was offered a scholarship on the team before the first year started .
After two years in Tuscaloosa and a lot of personal growth , she returned to her home state to complete her undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky . While finishing that , she decided to apply to the two-year Bachelor ’ s in Physical Therapy program at UK to combine her love of athletics and a desire to fix things . While in PT school , her father nudged her toward medical school , but Dr . George questioned herself and wasn ’ t sure she could do it . However , her first year ’ s curriculum was the same as the medical students ’ so she began to feel medical school might be within reach . She was still in PT school and mulling her future when her mother broke her
ankle , and the orthopaedic surgeon let Dr . George watch the surgery .
“ I was hooked ,” she said . “ I thought it was the coolest thing I ’ d ever seen , so then I started looking into medical school .” After finishing PT school , she wasn ’ t exactly sure how to reach that goal , and she began private practice PT in Lexington . Initially , she did acute care in the hospital , but was soon presented with an opportunity to work with an orthopaedic surgeon , Dr . Mary Lloyd Ireland . “ I got to see things from her perspective . After that I knew this was absolutely what I wanted to do .”
She practiced PT for five years while taking her final pre-requisite courses , taking the MCAT and applying to medical school . While she thought she ’ d stay in Lexington at UK , her interview at the University of Louisville really sold her on the program .
“ They did things a lot different here . For example , gross anatomy you had a whole cadaver rather than prosections . I really felt like at UofL the medical students got to do more in their rotations . At the time that was a better fit for me personally .”
During her time in Louisville , she welcomed local traditions with open arms and among other events , ran the mini . In 1994 , her junior year , the day came and while she remembered terrible storms and pouring rain , there was a sunny spot , too . “ At the ninemile mark , I happened to pass this man and we started talking . We met up after the race - which is very out of character for me - and then we started going out and we got engaged the following year .”
34 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE