DR . WHO Brittany Maggard , MD by KATHRYN VANCE
In Eastern Kentucky lies Hyden , a small mining town equipped with two stoplights , home to just 200-plus people . One of those was Dr . Brittany Maggard , who lived there for all her childhood before going off to college . She then moved on to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond , which , while bigger , was still not necessarily big . Once she was accepted into medical school at the University of Louisville in 2007 , this small-town girl was off to the “ big city .”
As a child , when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up , her answer was always quick : a doctor . With a medical lab technologist dad and a teacher mom , she has no idea where the initial love came from , but it stuck . This joy of medicine must ’ ve been somewhat in their genes , as her brother went on to become a pharmacist .
Coming from undergrad where studying was easy and the knowledge came naturally , the transition to medical school was a shock . “ It ’ s like drinking from a firehose . I got to medical school , and it was so much more than I anticipated . It was a big transition trying to find my footing and find new study habits . My first year of med school was probably the hardest of my career , trying to adjust to a new norm . But it was enjoyable to see my dreams finally coming to reality .”
Coming into medical school , she thought she ’ d enter primary care . Because she had grown up in a rural area , her idea of a doctor was only that of a family doctor or pediatrician . Fast forward to her
third year and while she enjoyed all her rotations , she decided to pursue OB-GYN .
“ I was set on OB-GYN . I was getting letters of recommendation ready for my residency application , that ’ s where my heart was . But towards the end of third year , I noticed that on every rotation I went on , someone told me that if they had it to do over again , they would choose anesthesia . So , I decided to shadow in anesthesia and very much fell in love with it . It was an immediate love .”
At the very end of her third year , she switched her plans and set her sights on an anesthesia residency , and where to complete that training . If you ’ d asked her 20 years ago where she thought she ’ d end up , she ’ d have said Lexington . But her interview at ULSOM quickly changed those plans . The people she met were so kind and genuine that it swayed her to come to Louisville . She had the same thought process when considering residency . The decision came down to two things : her love for the city of Louisville , and firsthand experiences with the department she ’ d be working with .
“ As a medical student , I was in the department , and I saw the people who were going to teach me . I knew they were wonderful , dedicated teachers , UofL offered excellent cases , and I knew the faculty would train me to be a high-quality anesthesiologist . I knew I ’ d be confident and competent when I graduated .”
So , in Louisville she stayed , and later in residency she became Chief Resident , giving her more experience with the inner workings
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