By Kat Brown

How do we help ensure that people get what they need? This is the overarching question that Maisy Webster is trying to help answer.

Webster is a current graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Kentucky, where her research interests are shaped by her background as a double major in psychology and public health. That interdisciplinary foundation, she emphasized, has informed how she views psychology and how we can better patient experiences at both the individual and systemic levels.

Much of that work centers on cancer care. As part of her research at UK, Webster explores how patients surviving cancer can access care that improves their quality of life and decreases chances of recurrence. A recent project under Jessica Burris in the Behavioral Interventions to Reduce Disparities in Smoking lab focused on how cancer centers across the U.S. are integrating tobacco treatment services and what obstacles stand in the way for survivors and their care teams.

Working directly with those patients left a mark on her. "The connection you see between patients and their [care] providers can really go a long way," Webster said. She took careful note of how patients responded to care, attention to detail and respect from providers, and how she could bring those same qualities to her own practice. As part of the clinical psychology program, Webster participates in a practicum each year, providing reduced-cost therapy services through a community clinic. Patients get the care they need, and students get opportunities for supervised practice.

Webster's commitment to access extends beyond her research. She also serves as the Graduate Student Congress vice president, working as a liaison between students and the UK administration to ensure committees have the resources needed to support graduate students across the university through initiatives like increasing mental health awareness and identifying student needs. She is also a member of the Psychology Access and Community Engagement Committee in the psychology department, which helps connect undergraduates and graduates with research labs, internships and workshops through events like the Psychology Activities Fair. Together, these roles complement her broader research goals: making sure people have what they need to thrive professionally and personally.

That mission will soon take her into a new arena. Webster recently earned a Health Professions Scholarship and will complete an internship at a U.S. Navy hospital after graduate school, serving in the Navy for three years. The path there is already familiar. Before graduate school, she worked in a post-baccalaureate program helping cancer patients, including veterans, quit smoking as part of their treatment.

"Working with active-duty service members, I have the opportunity to impact patients earlier in their career and be that support for them [as they serve in the Navy]," Webster said. "I'm really interested in the comprehensive care approach in the Navy: healthcare is a part of helping service members continue to do [difficult, potentially stressful jobs]."

Webster will begin in a general outpatient capacity but hopes to eventually specialize in cancer and chronic disease, continuing the same work she started at UK in a new setting.