Vivian Lasley-Bibbs always wanted to help people. Her road led to PA school. Now she’s the director of the Office of Health Equity (OHE) in the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

It was a small bump on the neck, she says. Warm to the touch.

She hadn’t even noticed it until a nurse brought it up during a routine examination.

Did it bother her? the nurse asked. Honestly, there was so much going on in her life at that moment, she barely noticed. No, it didn’t bother her at all.

Right then, Vivian Lasley-Bibbs was ordered to be examined — and what was found changed her life forever.

“I hadn't really paid any attention,” she said. “The nurse asked if I was tired, and she kind of went through some symptoms and I said, ‘No more than normal.’ All of us students were, you know, working and doing three things at the same time and burning the candle at both ends.”

That included attending UK’s College of Medicine, because all her life she wanted to work in the medical field. But sometimes, life steers you in a different direction, and this time it led her to the College of Health Sciences, and a new career.

A career that makes Lasley-Bibbs responsible for the wellbeing of many, many people. Not to mention, she’s doing this at a moment that could be considered the most challenging in all of our lifetimes.

No big deal. She’s been through some things. Life has prepared her well.

Let’s meet Vivian Lasley-Bibbs, director of the Office of Health Equity (OHE) in the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

CHS: First off, why did you come to UK?

VLB: Well, I'm a born and bred Kentuckian, so Kentucky is home. But there was a time when I was trying to make a decision on what to do when I had an opportunity to come back to Kentucky. I was an epidemiologist for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and my husband got an opportunity to do some important work at the Federal Medical Center here.

At the time, a good friend of mine was the former commissioner of the Department for Public Health, and I interned for him for a year and then he said, ‘You know, have you ever thought about medicine?’ I said yes, I’d always thought about it when I was getting my MPH degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I said it was always something I wanted to do. So, I applied, and I got in.

But things took a turn …

VLB: That first year, when I got accepted, I was also diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I was working, I got into school, I was teaching aerobics. I was doing a lot of things.

Part of your medical school requirement is that you have a physical to make sure everything is okay. So, I was in student health services and the nurse noticed a lump. Then she made me an appointment with the ear, nose and throat specialist at UK and they immediately looked at it and a biopsy came back positive.

I went through 11 months of treatment trying to continue as a student and it just wasn't possible.

So you went the PA route?

VLB: The Physician Assistant program wasn't really something I had on my radar, but a good friend said I should consider it — CHS was right across the street, and maybe I could use some of the classes I’d already taken.

So, I talked to some folks, and they were like, ‘Great, I think you'd be a perfect fit. Come on.’ And you know, the rest is history, so to speak. I had a great experience. The faculty there were very understanding of my situation, coming over in a nontraditional way. I was a little bit older than some of the students that were in my cohort but that was good too because I think we drew on each other’s life experience.

I think that was helpful for them to see that I was actually on the other side.

And why do you love population health? Are there many places that need this kind of help more than Kentucky?

VLB: I love being on the prevention side. I want to address communities and populations of folks and even sometimes the individual, because we’re just continually putting a band aid on things, and I want to help from a preventative angle.

And yes, Kentucky needs it, but I think our country as a whole need it, because so many times we function after the fact — we're retroactive instead of being proactive. We've been talking about social determinants of health for 10-plus years now — where people live, work, play and pray. I can't think of anybody that doesn't want good schools, good air, a quality education and adequate housing for their family. I can't think of anybody that would say no to that.

We’re trying to say this is something that should benefit everybody — that everybody should have a fair and just opportunity to optimal health.

How do you describe the College of Health Sciences when people ask about your background?

VLB: Well you know, it must have been pretty good because I have a daughter that just graduated from the MLS program!

I always tell people that there are valued opportunities outside of medicine. Sometimes we think that medicine and dentistry and law — if we’re not in one of those three careers we somehow think we failed. So, I'm trying to let students know there are other opportunities.

I had a wonderful experience. I had great professors who wanted to see me succeed. And I think that’s what made me fall in love with it the most were those relationships. It was very genuine, and they were very concerned that I did well because they knew where I was coming from, so they would always check in.

When I graduated, I felt sad that I was leaving those folks. We’d developed a bond.

I still remember how kind and compassionate they were to me.

I just want to thank them so, so much.