( continued from page 27 )
In 2015 , during her second year in residency while at a going away party for a colleague , she found herself on the rooftop of a new-to-town place called 8Up . She soon spotted a woman across the restaurant and knew she was interested . With the help of her wing woman KP , Dr . Richardson got her number . She had her first date with Kiara two days later , and the following day , Kiara brought her lunch at work . They eventually tied the knot in 2018 and have loved growing their lives together ever since .
After completing her residency in 2016 , they stayed in Louisville for her sports medicine fellowship . Following her final year of training , the two had started a family and knew that they would stay local . Also right out of training , Dr . Richardson received a job offer to work with UofL Athletics , making it an easy choice to stay .
“ To get the opportunity to live out your dream as you know it was a no-brainer , and the decision was already made . I didn ’ t have to think about it . Louisville was just home .”
Being a former three-sport athlete , she ’ s no stranger to taking on multiple roles at a time . This is no different in her day-to-day now . She ’ s currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Family & Geriatric Medicine , serving as a faculty mentor for small groups in the Humanism and Compassionate Medicine and Problem Based Learning courses . She is also the Associate Program Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship Program , core faculty in the Family Medicine Residency program , the Clerkship Director of the Family Medicine Clerkship and part of the admissions committee for the UofL School of Medicine .
“ I wear a lot of hats . I do that purposefully . I am aware that there are not many females of color in positions of power , and it is important for my patients , my mentees and people that I interact with to see my face in my position ,” she said . “ My hats are not taken lightly . I have them because I want to work with every level of
education . Because of the work that I do , I get to work with high school students , undergraduate students , students as they ’ re entering medical school , first years to fourth years , and then residents and fellows . I get to sprinkle a little bit of B . Rich on all of them and they get to learn from someone who truly cares and wants them to be the best version of themselves . Mentorship is my heart , and I want to make sure that we ’ re doing a good job of diversifying medicine because our patients need it .”
As mentioned previously , she also wears hats within UofL Athletics . During fellowship , she became a team physician for the women ’ s basketball program and became the head team physician when she transitioned to her career in the department . This will be her seventh season with the team .
“ My job is to take care of the ladies . I am the direct contact to their athletic trainer , and I make sure I maintain good relationships with them and the coaching staff , so that we ’ re able to take care of them physically and mentally . That way , they ’ re able to perform not only on the court , but also in the classroom to the best of their ability .”
She also wears the hat – or helmet ? – of a team physician for UofL football . This is her fourth season with the team , and while she acknowledges that she ’ s one of the only women in the program ( a trend seen across the country ), she has developed a level of trust with the guys that allows her to treat them and keep them healthy and available to play .
“ I was actually interviewing for the fellowship program this morning and the applicants asked why I ’ ve stayed around so long . I told them that if you were to poll every D1 football program across the country , I ’ d be willing to bet that there ’ s less than 10 female team physicians . And to that point , probably less than five Black female team physicians ,” she said . “ Because it ’ s rare , you have to work to prove that you belong and that you ’ re worthy of that position . I ’ ve worked really hard to prove that and make sure that everyone knows
28 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE