Laura Hornback Looks Ahead to Future Career in Rural Medicine

Laura Hornback is a fourth-year medical student who just went through Match Day and is preparing to graduate this spring. She discusses her future plans in the following Q&A.

What do you hope to accomplish with your education at the College of Medicine?

My end goal is to become a small-town physician. I would love to have a special focus on addiction medicine and LBGTQ* health, especially gender affirmation therapy. I would also love to start initiatives in my community with a focus on preventative care, such as community gardens for fresh produce and morning run/walk clubs. I hope to create an open environment with a goal of holistic health within my community. I want my future practice to be as open and welcoming as possible to all patients regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or religious beliefs.

Where will you complete your residency, and what are you most excited about?

I matched in Morehead, Ky., at St. Claire HealthCare in family medicine. I am most excited about starting to handle my own patients, getting to work with a team, and starting to have more independence!

What inspired you to follow a career in medicine?

I had initially decided to pursue a career in medicine following illness of a family member. When I was a child, my younger cousin was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor that was suspected to be fatal if not resected. Due to the location of the tumor, no surgeon was willing to operate. I remember being terrified that my little cousin wouldn’t make it. Eventually a surgeon in Pennsylvania agreed to operate, and my cousin flew up and was able to have the surgery. This was the experience that sparked my interest in medicine. I wanted to be able to care for people because I understood what it felt like to have a sick family member. I wanted to make sure that when other people were sick, they had someone they could turn to. We were lucky with the outcome with my cousin; he is alive and doing very well to this day. I hold that experience to heart and hope to be able to be a person who patients can turn to when they deal with health difficulty and struggles. I know firsthand how scary illness of a loved one can be. It has inspired me to want to provide the top level of care and support for the patients and families I see.

What have been some of your favorite experiences since starting medical training at UK?

Medical school has been a very fun experience. Some of my favorite things have been getting to participate in the simulation lab, getting to model for ultrasound at UltraFest at the Lexington castle, and doing my AHEC rotation in family medicine. Faculty and my peers at UK have been very supportive and have created a welcoming environment for learning. I have met fascinating people from a huge variety of backgrounds that have helped shaped who I will be as a physician. I have had wonderful opportunities to participate in research while in school and completed several projects, even some that are outside my specific area of future practice. Medical school has been a fun ride, and while I am excited to move on to residency, this has been a very enjoyable and formative period of my life

What is a fun/interesting fact about yourself?

Some fun facts about me include that I own 63 typewriters, the majority of which are functional. I have a horse who is an absolute brat named Salem, but it’s okay because he’s really sweet – my mom just spoils him with carrots. I have a pet tarantula named Edith (I never hold her or stick my hand in the cage. That’s a bit too scary for me.)