This year marks the 15^th UofL Medals4Mettle event, which pairs the UofL students with children battling critical illness who are patients of Norton Children’s Cancer Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine. The students presented medals they earned for running the 13.1-mile mini marathon or 26.2-mile marathon on April 30 to the kids at a socially distanced, outdoor party at the Health Sciences Center Courtyard.

This was the third time that fourth-year medical student David Means has run the KDF miniMarathon in honor of Seth Walsh, a 7-year-old battling leukemia.

“I’ve gotten to see Seth grow year by year,” Means said. “I’ve actually seen him at a UofL game and we’ve done a few other events. Just to meet him and his family and see what a cool family they have – so much support for this little man.”

Walsh has his collection of the medals hanging on his bedpost, said his mother, Michelle.

“It’s a great way for the students to learn what these children are going through, but fun for the children to realize that people are there for them,” she said.

The UofL Medals4Mettle event is part of an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization that links athletes and critically ill individuals. The pandemic prevented the traditional in-person medal ceremony for the last two years, so students running in 2020 and 2021 sent their medals to the kids with a personal note, connecting virtually over Facetime or Zoom when possible.

This was the third Medals4Mettle run for Madi Harley, a third-year medical student who plans to practice pediatrics. While her buddy was unable to attend Saturday’s medal exchange, she enjoyed the smiling faces of the kids who were there.

“I hope we are able to serve as a bright light for each kid, reminding them they are rock stars and we are rooting for them,” she said.

When she was eight years old, Meliha Hrustanovic-Kadic and her family fled war-torn Bosnia as refugees. They settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, adapting as quickly as they could to the new language and culture.

Soon afterward, her grandfather arrived in the United States as well, but his health quickly deteriorated.

“I was the oldest of my siblings and the oldest of the grandchildren. I found myself riding in an ambulance with my grandfather on a frequent basis. I became his interpreter for every emergency room visit and hospital stay. As his condition unfortunately worsened, my curiosity and passion for medicine grew,” she said.

Early in her college career, she made it official — declaring pre-med as her major during her sophomore year at Western Kentucky University.

“I can’t imagine myself doing anything else,” she said.

Hrustanovic-Kadic considered other medical schools, but knew she wanted to be at UofL.

“I felt a welcoming atmosphere from the start and loved how diverse it was. I wanted to attend a medical school that excelled in patient care, research, teaching and was involved in the community. UofL has surpassed all of my expectations,” she said. 

Hrustanovic-Kadic appreciates the school’s commitment to students’ well-being, with wellness initiatives, mental health counseling, an active LGBT program and diversity events. As a medical student at UofL, she has served as a representative on the diversity committee and volunteers for Kentucky Refugee Ministries.

“So many individuals, from instructors and attendings to fellow medical students to the medical student affairs staff, have become like family over the years,” she said. 

Wartime displacement prevented her parents from completing higher education, which, combined with learning a new language, put the best jobs out of reach. Ultimately, they reached for the American Dream, opening their own transportation company.

“I was 15 at the time and have helped them manage it ever since,” Hrustanovic-Kadic said. She has continued to support the family business even during medical school. “We function as a team and everyone tries to pitch in to help when they can. Don’t ask me how I’ve balanced everything because I don’t even know – perhaps a mix of good time management and organization, along with a ‘when there’s a will, there’s a way’ attitude.”

Her family has supported her during her medical education as well, with frequent visits to Louisville and even preparing her favorite Bosnian foods – krofne, pita, hurmasice and others – during exam weeks.

“You name a way and I can assure you they’ve done it – emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially,” Hrustanovic-Kadic said. “I cannot even begin to describe just how important a supportive family is, especially through medical school.”

She will receive her diploma at the UofL School of Medicine Convocation on Saturday, but her days at UofL are not over. Hrustanovic-Kadic will remain at UofL to pursue residency in internal medicine.

“I enjoy taking care of patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings and there are so many interesting routes one can take with a career in internal medicine,” she said. “I am looking forward to the experiences I will gain during residency.” 

Lovelace, who studied finance and business prior to entering medical school, developed the tool as part of the , sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Foundation. Lovelace, one of 30 participants selected for the first cohort of the year-long program, participated in the group’s leadership workshop last summer, then worked with a physician mentor to create a project in Personal and Practice Leadership, one of three leadership tracks available to the scholars. The other tracks were Policy and Public Health Leadership and Philanthropic and Mission-Driven Leadership. Judges selected Lovelace’s project as the best in the Personal and Practice Leadership track.

Lovelace tapped into his business experience to create the detailed financial planning and budgeting tool. He explained that although physicians beginning residency may qualify to purchase expensive cars and higher-priced homes based on future income potential, it’s dangerous to make these purchase decisions without careful analysis of the whole financial picture – including medical education debt that may exceed $175,000.

“Often people will buy a car and sign an apartment lease as independent decisions and not consider how much of their monthly income they are committing to those two items. Those are binding agreements, so you can make two relatively straightforward decisions and put yourself in a bind throughout residency,” Lovelace said.

Lovelace’s budget program uses answers to 35 questions related to the user’s financial obligations to calculate their financial trajectory, including a detailed analysis for multiple student loan repayment options and a retirement savings projection. It then generates a report revealing areas of budget concern (too high or too low) and whether the user is projected to reach a retirement goal. It even provides suggestions of how to correct an underfunded retirement plan.

As part of the project submission, Lovelace created a of the budgeting tool and a poster describing the problem and how the analysis can help individuals avoid common pitfalls. He said his project mentor, Marc Matthews, MD, a family practitioner with the Mayo Clinic, encouraged him to increase the functionality of each module, adding value for the user, while keeping the project within the original scope.

Jason Marker, MD, MPA, past president of the AAFP Foundation who chairs the foundation workgroup that launched the FML Emerging Leader Institute, said Lovelace’s project exemplifies the leadership potential of the students and residents participating in the institute.

“One of our hopes with the FML Emerging Leader Institute was that we would take a group of scholars, many of whom had little formal family medicine leadership training, and accelerate their capacity and motivation toward being physicians with the understanding to practice medicine in the context of social determinants of health, elimination of health disparities and avoiding future physician burnout,” Marker said. “In that latter category, Michael’s project is a standout. As Michael is lecturing on this topic, I know he will help a lot of young physicians be successful.”

Stephen Wheeler, MD, associate dean for admissions at the UofL School of Medicine and a senior faculty member in the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine, has mentored Lovelace in family medicine and leadership at UofL.

“I first met Michael during his path toward medicine as a non-traditional applicant. Then, I worked with him during the two-year introduction to clinical cases small group experience. I am ecstatic that he feels called in this direction. He will be an exceptional family doctor,” Wheeler said.

At last summer’s leadership workshop, Marker led a session on Personal and Practice Leadership with Lovelace and the other FML Emerging Leader Institute participants.

“We talked about financial realities of practice and how ill-prepared many medical students and residents are for life beyond residency. The way Michael addressed this topic is excellent. He has made the information accessible for the broadest possible audience,” Marker said, adding that he hopes the project will ultimately be adapted for use by medical schools and residency programs to help physicians avoid financial missteps.

As the creator of the top project in his track, Lovelace will give an oral presentation of the project at the American Academy of Family Physicians on July 28 in Kansas City, Missouri, and attend , the annual educational meeting of the AAFP to be held in Orlando, Florida, in September.