Congratulations to Cameron Garner on his match with the University of Louisville School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences! It is always inspiring to see individuals who have a passion for helping others pursue a career in medicine, and Garner's dedication to his patients is truly admirable.

Garner is a native Kentuckian and knew he wanted to go to into medicine. Growing up surrounded by physicians, he was inspired by the amazing care and respect they have for their patients. He began his journey to medical school early as one of 10 Kentucky high school students accepted into the UofL School of Medicine Guaranteed Entrance to Medical School (GEMS) program. After completing the GEMS program, students are automatically admitted into the School of Medicine by maintaining a 3.4 cumulative and science grade point average in undergraduate work, scoring at or above the national mean on each section of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), and participating fully in program activities.

At a young age, Garner’s mother was diagnosed with macular degeneration and as he observed her ophthalmologist, his inspiration for pursuing Ophthalmology only grew. With each visit they would carefully and patiently care for his mother. Garner wants to help patients in the same way physicians in his life have continued to help his mother.

For anyone interested in pursuing medicine, Garner’s advice is “to find a mentor who you trust to help you along your journey. Having someone that you feel comfortable getting advice from is crucial, because the journey to medicine is not easy, and the road does not end once you are accepted to medical school.”

Garner has already begun in his career of service to others. During his time at the University of Louisville, Garner served as a math tutor, teaching assistant in undergraduate studies, and a tutor in the medical school. As a participant in the Medical Education Distinction track, he created a Math Refresher pre-quiz module for first-year medical students to complete prior to their biostatistics course to address medical students’ anxiety surrounding mathematics.

We are proud of Cameron Garner for his hard work and dedication to the University of Louisville School of Medicine. We wish him luck on his residency and future endeavors!