5 Questions with … Lucy Bowers

By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

Lucy Bowers didn’t always want to be a Physician Assistant.

First, she wanted to be a teacher, like her mother, and then maybe an orthopedic surgeon, like the one who helped nurse her back to health after a slew of sports injuries.

Neither seemed to be a perfect fit, but the surgeon did get her interested in medicine. Then she ended up shadowing both the surgeon and a pediatrician throughout high school.

“That’s when I knew,” Bowers said. “I was like, ‘Okay, I really like medicine.’ And then I had to decide if I wanted to go MD or PA, but PA gives me the work-life balance that I’m looking for.”

Now, Bowers — an England native by way of Granger, Ind. — is a student in the College of Health Sciences’ Physician Assistant Studies Class of 2025. She’s also an Orthopaedic Trauma Research Fellow in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine.

And, she is one of four winners of the Susan Lindahl Memorial Scholarship, a $5,000 award presented by the Physician Assistants Orthopaedic Surgery, Inc., to “cultivate and attract young physician assistant students into the field of orthopaedics.”

We’ve even featured her before here on our website.

She most recently accepted the award at the Physician Assistants Orthopaedic Surgery CME Conference in Indianapolis.

We were able to catch up with her just before the ceremony, and we got to pose a few questions to her about her future, and what it felt like to know she’s won the prestigious scholarship.

Here’s 5 questions with … PA student Lucy Bowers: 

WHY UK?

When I was picking undergrad, UK had everything I wanted in a college. It had the academics. It had the athletics. It had just a multi-faceted approach, which is why I chose it for undergrad and grad.

I was born in England, and then, at the age of 5 we moved to Granger, Ind., right around the University of Notre Dame. So, I grew up in a college town. I knew I wanted that environment — there’s just nothing that beats being in a college town. I literally just got something in the mail one day that was like, 'Come Visit the University of Kentucky!' And so, I convinced my parents to drive down here and do the college tour.

It was the same approach going to graduate school. Obviously, I’d been in the college and been exposed to the graduate professors. I knew that it offered what I needed to make me a well-rounded, future PA.

TELL US ABOUT THE RESEARCH CASE REPORT FOR THE SCHOLARSHIP:

I talked with an orthopaedic trauma surgeon that I worked with for my research fellowship. He is also a deformity doctor, and treats a wide variety of patients with unique cases. I was able to chat with him and we came up with patients that had unfortunate injuries, but amazing recoveries. From there, I was able to investigate a particular patient and research their case. I wrote about their injuries, recovery, and surgical techniques and approach for their cases.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE WON THIS SCHOLARSHIP?

I was definitely shocked. Knowing I was a top 10 finalist and getting to write the case report was huge.  So, when I got the email that I was awarded the scholarship, and to be recognized as one of the four students …  I don't believe anyone from UK has won the award before.

It’s an honor.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

I graduate in June 2025.

I am thinking about completing a residency program, and then finding a job somewhere in orthopaedics!

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WHO WAS THINKING OF GOING DOWN THE SAME PA PATH?

I completed the Human Health Sciences degree in undergrad, and it is well-rounded; it will prepare you for your future graduate program. And looking back, that has been so true, because we did classes like Intro to Medicine, and we did Health Care Delivery Systems, and that has helped me tremendously. I couldn't see myself just sitting there getting a biology or chemistry degree. I love the different aspects that HHS pulled in to benefit me in my PA degree. Take advantage of all the opportunities given; shadow, talk with your professors. All of this will help you down the road in PA school.

And Lexington is big enough, but small enough. It offers everything that a bigger college town has to offer, and it has amazing professors that care about the student, are willing to work with you and assist you along the way to get you to the things that you need.

And I think that’s super important. If I did not have the support of my professors or my academic advisors, I wouldn’t be here today. So, for me, that is one thing that has made UK stand out.