From Hazard to healing: UK pharmacy grad driven to serve Appalachia

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 7, 2026) — Beth Spencer didn’t always know she would become a pharmacist.

Growing up in Perry County, Kentucky, she thought she might become a physician. What she did know was that education would be her path forward.

“My dad told me when I was little, ‘Education is going to be your key to making it in life,’” Spencer said. “He said, ‘If you work hard, you’ll get scholarships and make something of yourself.’”

Spencer, a first-generation college student from Hazard, Kentucky, is now graduating from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

Her path to pharmacy began after earning an undergraduate degree from Eastern Kentucky University. During a gap year, she began working part time at CVS and quickly realized pharmacy was where she wanted to be. Over the next decade, Spencer worked in several pharmacy settings, including hospital pharmacy, before deciding to pursue her Pharm.D. at UK.

Her passion for oncology pharmacy is deeply connected to her Eastern Kentucky roots.

“Being from Eastern Kentucky has been one of the biggest influences on who I am,” Spencer said. “It’s my home, and it’s my people.”

During graduate studies at UK before pharmacy school, Spencer focused on health disparities and coal mining in Central Appalachia. She said learning more about the region’s health challenges, especially cancer rates, helped shape her career goals.

“I graduated high school with around 68 people, and I can count at least five classmates who have already had cancer,” she said.

At UK, Spencer found meaningful work with the investigational drug service, supporting clinical trials and oncology research.

“It’s incredibly fulfilling,” she said. “Especially knowing that many of the patients we’re helping come from rural areas like Eastern Kentucky.”

Spencer’s commitment to oncology became even more personal during pharmacy school. She lost both of her parents, who each had cancer, as well as an aunt who was like a second mother to her.

“It has been the most challenging experience I’ve ever had,” Spencer said.

Through that loss, she found support from her partner, classmates and colleagues at UK — especially her coworkers in the investigational drug service.

“You couldn’t ask for better support,” she said.

Now, as she prepares to graduate, Spencer hopes to use her degree to advocate for patients from Eastern Kentucky and Central Appalachia.

“I am going to be able to be a voice for people from Eastern Kentucky,” she said. “I plan to do work in those areas and help try to make the people of Central Appalachia healthier than they currently are.”

Spencer hopes her story encourages other first-generation students and students from rural communities to keep going.

“I want them to know that they can do it too,” she said. “You have to advocate for yourself.”

As she reflects on earning her Pharm.D., Spencer said the milestone feels bigger than one person.

“It’s definitely been like a group effort,” she said. “My parents aren’t going to be there with me, but I know they would be so proud. I would not be where I am without them.”