Spotlight on Dr. Laura Nowels Kaster, BA’97 

A native of Millersburg, Ohio, Laura Nowels came to Marshall in 1993 as a student in the prestigious Yeager Scholar Program. Her enthusiasm for a well-rounded college experience included not only her studies, but a stint as an athlete. “Apparently I didn’t consider myself busy enough,” Laura joked, “because in the fall I joined the MU track team as a walk-on and continued to run cross country and participate in indoor/outdoor track throughout my college years.” She particularly enjoyed exploring Huntington on many adventurous runs through the city with her teammates at practices.

Among other honors, Laura was awarded the Cam Henderson Award for the school’s top scholar-athlete; the Dorothy Hicks Graduate Scholarship Award, awarded to one male and one female athlete in the Southern Conference for academic and athletic achievements; the Karen C. Thomas Leadership Award given by Alumni Association for leadership, dedication and active involvement in Marshall University; Outstanding Contributions to Marshall Award, for years of service to Marshall community; the Women of Marshall Award, for outstanding achievement in academics, community/university service, contribution to gender equity and multicultural understanding at MU; and was a state finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship.

“Marshall always felt like a small school and I liked that,” said Laura. “I spent the summer of 1996 completing studies in English literature at Oxford University in England, compliments of my Yeager scholarship. That year I decided on a career in medicine and started applications and interviews for medical school. It was at this time that I decided to join the Army. I knew that the U.S. military had a great scholarship program for those willing to sign on that line. I also thought it would be a good thing to do and would probably end up being a very interesting experience!”

Laura’s father was a 30-year veteran of the Army Reserve after some time on active duty, including a year in Vietnam, so serving in the military was not a stretch for Laura. Her younger sister’s long battle with childhood cancer and her remarkable recovery is what initially inspired Laura to pursue a career in medicine.

While in medical school at The Ohio State University, Laura continued her running, now for fun instead of competition, and completed her first triathlon and three marathons. She served for three years on the student council and was voted as president of her medical school class her last year. After graduation in June 2001, she prepared for a move to the west coast and her first assignment with the U.S. Army.

During medical school, she met her husband, Vince Kaster, a West Point graduate. Vince was headed to Fort Lewis, Wash., so she requested Fort Lewis as well. She spent the next three years there in the family practice residency program at Madigan Army Medical Center, and she and Vince were married in December 2001. “We were separated on many occasions,” said Laura, “when I was sent to other Army hospitals and when Vince was sent to Ranger School and then later deployed to Iraq. I completed my residency in June 2004 and moved across the country for my next assignment.”

During flight surgeon training at Fort Rucker, Ala., in 2004, Laura learned the unique aspects of serving as a doctor for Army aviation units. Then she moved to Fort Bragg, N.C., where she is the flight surgeon for the 56th Medical Evacuation Battalion. “A MEDEVAC battalion transports casualties from combat zones or another field environment to the nearest military field hospital, or transports patients from between field hospitals to another higher-level military treatment facility,” said Laura. “As the physician for the battalion, my job is part clinical, part administrative. The clinical duties include providing primary care for the soldiers in my battalion as well as other soldiers assigned to aviation units within the clinic. The administrative duties involve attending weekly staff meetings with the unit commander and keeping him updated on the unit’s medical issues, including medical readiness to deploy and training status of medics assigned to the battalion. I also log flying hours with the unit aircrews each month and participate in aviation safety meetings and aviation accident investigations.

“Part of the 56th Medical Evacuation battalion is scheduled for another possible deployment to Iraq later this year,” said Laura, “so I may be heading overseas in the near future. Nothing is certain in the Army, though, so my husband and I just take what time we can get together and make the most of it!”