DR . WHO Kris Barnsfather , MD , MBA , FACOG by KATHRYN VANCE
Dr . Kris Barnsfather has never stayed in one place for long . “ Home ” was always spread out across the country – she lived in seven states all before graduating high school . Her family and friends keep up the running joke that for the past 30 years , she ’ s doing something different every three years .
As a 12-year-old , she can distinctly remember when she fell on a piece of metal edging that cut her thigh so much that she could see the inside of the muscle when she tensed her leg . Instead of thinking about how badly it hurt , she thought it was cool and yelled for all her friends to come look while waiting for the paramedics . In high school , she was interested in the human body , but also enjoyed teaching and math . After high school she enrolled at Hanover College in Indiana , about an hour outside of Louisville . Not knowing exactly what the future would hold , she knew one thing for certain : “ I knew I wanted to be a mom and to have four kids .”
As a waitress throughout college , the staff had their annual Christmas party during her junior year and one of the cooks brought his friend , James Barnsfather . She instantly knew he was the one . She decided she would pursue teaching to facilitate the work-life balance she ’ d always dreamed of .
Two months after they were engaged , James was deployed as a Marine in Desert Storm . Dr . Barnsfather graduated in May 1991 with a bachelor ’ s degree in mathematics and got her teaching license . When James returned soon after , they immediately made plans to
wed that August . That year , she began teaching at Valley High School on Dixie Highway and in that first year of teaching and marriage , her goal to grow her family began to take shape . Unfortunately , tragic circumstances struck , and the couple faced a miscarriage .
“ We tried over and over again and it ’ s just one of those weird instances where they didn ’ t have an answer . Unfortunately in recurrent pregnancy loss , we don ’ t always have an answer .”
After continuing to teach and ultimately facing several more miscarriages , medicine was always in the back of her mind . Now understanding medicine more deeply from the other side , it was clear what she wanted to do . She went to the Office of the Registrar at the University of Louisville and asked if she was competitive enough to even consider applying . They instructed her to take a few missing courses , get some volunteer and shadowing hours and apply then . Her high-risk pregnancy doctor who had encouraged her to go to medical school got her in touch with Dr . Steve Wheeler , a primary care physician in town . She shadowed him , while also taking classes , teaching , working on a masters in secondary education and studying for the MCAT . Juggling became second nature to her .
“ I remember driving in a pickup truck on the way to Spring Break and I ’ m in the cab reading my MCAT review book just to get it all in . At that point , it had been six or seven years since I ’ d had a lot of those classes . That was when I realized this was what I really wanted .”
With full support from James , she applied to medical school at
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