Healing hands, giving heart: A KCU alumna's journey in medicine and why she gives

“There are many days when I'm sitting in a room listening to somebody who is pouring their heart out to me, and I know I'm in the right place… and I'm doing what I was meant to do,” said Kansas City University (KCU) alumna Lois Narr, DO, COM 1990).

A family physician for more than 30 years, Dr. Narr practices in Cambridge, Maryland--a rural and diverse community of 13,000 on the Choptank River just up from the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to leading a thriving practice, the former college All-America and National Champion distance runner is also the head coach of the local high school’s cross country and track and field teams.

“What's not perfect about it?” she mused. “Well, the long hours, continuous on-call and family sacrifice, but am I making a difference… am I improving people's lives? I believe I am.”

Dr. Narr was inspired to become a doctor by her former family physician, Ronald Goldberg, DO, “. . .who really saw (his) patients and knew them as people, not just as a disease or a disorder or a way to make a living.”

Dr. Goldberg recommended Kansas City University because it would offer her the best opportunities. Dr. Narr, who is from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, said she questioned coming to the Midwest, but Dr. Goldberg assured her that KCU was the best choice. She took his advice and began her medical school journey in 1986. She graduated in 1990, started her residency in southern New Jersey and immediately began looking for a place to practice thereafter.

Dr. Narr and her husband were open to living in a small town as they had experienced small-town life as undergraduates at Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) and again while Lois was a rotating medical student in Augusta, Kansas.

“I got a picture of what it could be like to be a doctor in a small town. . . a place that really needs doctors, as opposed to a place where there's a doctor on every corner and patients just doctor shop for the one that's going to give them things that they think they want and need.”

Choosing a small town also provided one other crucial benefit – help in paying back her medical school loans. “When I applied to medical school, I did not have financial support from my family.” Instead, she incurred more than $100,000 in loans.

After graduation she and her husband looked for a medically underserved community that offered loan repayment assistance. They found what they were looking for in Cambridge.

Although she could have left Cambridge after fulfilling her five-year commitment, Dr. Narr and her husband, decided that this was the place she wanted to put down roots and raise her family. She set up a private practice--Lois A. Narr, DO, LLC--and today employs 11 people including three providers, five nurses and supporting staff.

“I want to be the doctor that knows her patients… the patients trust me… and we develop a relationship,’ she said. “I’m a good listener, because if I’m not a good listener, then I’m not going to get it right.”

Dr. Narr credits KCU with giving her the skills and education to follow her dream of helping others which is why she is a long-time member of KCU’s Conley Society, as well as member of the Gold Society, having supported KCU students through her personal giving for over 27 years.

“Kansas City was my opportunity. It has put me in a place where I can do the most good for people in need.”