A Women’s College graduate, Kelly met her best friends on campus and discovered her perfect career path and spirit of service. She now practices addictions psychiatry to reach the underserved and teaches psychiatry to medical students. A 2019 inductee to the Notre Dame Sports Hall of Fame, she gained lifelong lessons as a student-athlete that she carried into her professional life.

We really had the sense that we could be world-changers. – Dr. Kelly Barth '97


What attracted you to Notre Dame?

One of the things that drew me to the school were the progressive academics. For a small school, there were so many cool classes and majors. I was actually an interdisciplinary biology and psychology major. That influenced me greatly. After I went to medical school, I completed a combined residency in internal medicine and psychiatry.

What educational experiences made the biggest impact?

Being able to do research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse inspired me to go on in my career. I was a student under John Stanton in the science department. He had a connection there. Having that opportunity was really profound for me. So, it gave me a lot of confidence in applying to medical school. I felt like it was uniquely positioned for me coming from this school.

What lessons did you gain from being a student-athlete?

On the soccer and basketball teams, I had the opportunity to be coached by many great leaders here. They taught us resiliency, how to cope with losing, and how to identify through constructive criticism what we could have done better. They did not miss an opportunity to incorporate that in every game. They would take all of those life lessons and say, ‘This is what’s going to happen in your work life once you graduate from here.’ All of those life lessons stayed with me through my educational life and my work life. I think about them all the time.

What do you love about Notre Dame now?

My best friends to this day are people who I met at Notre Dame. It’s really nice to have a strong group of women leaders who I went to school with and who are all over the country now doing great things. We were all future oriented. There were no limits on us at that time. We have this common bond coming back to the college. It was really an inspiring time in our lives.

How did Notre Dame prepare you to transform the world?

When I was a student here, there was such a focus on giving back. We were never getting our education to advance our own interests. It was always with a focus on what could contribute to the world and to help those who are underserved or need justice. That was infused in all the classes, as well as the extracurriculars and Christian service learning that were available to us. My focus in particular was on treating the underserved and being in an area of service. I felt like I could identify those issues, and if I set my mind to it, I could make a difference.

How are you making a difference in your work?

My work today is focused still on the underserved and misunderstood and those who the medical community is having a hard time figuring out how to reach with effective treatments. That all started here at Notre Dame. The whole foundation of the education here was, ‘What can we contribute to the community?’”