Dr. Kathryn Maier became interested in medicine when she started working as a volunteer at a hospital when she was just 12 years old. “I love people, I love hearing their stories, and I love taking care of them,” she explains.

After college, Dr. Maier originally thought she was going to be a biologist because she loved science so much. “I did work as a lab tech after college but realized that I missed working with people too much. So I applied to medical school because I thought being a doctor would help me combine my love of people and keep my knowledge of science alive,” she explains.

When she was in medical school, Dr. Maier did a family medicine rotation in a rural area and immediately fell in love with the idea of being a family practitioner. “Everything about medicine came alive to me then, and I made the decision that being a family doctor is what I wanted to do with my career.”

In her work Dr. Maier feels that communication is the biggest and most important part of providing good care. “When I see a patient I’m always honest with them and I will tell them if they need to lose weight or stop smoking. I do feel that patients appreciate that I care about their health in that way and letting them know about it. Communicating well is an important step in caring for someone.”

Dr. Maier says that the biggest issue her pediatric patients face is anxiety and depression. “I’ve started noticing it in kids as young as six, seven, and eight. So many children are dealing with bullying and the stress of doing well in school. Plus social media is affecting the mental health of more and more children. So it’s really a big issue that we treat now.”

In her spare time Dr. Maier enjoys running and hiking. She used to be a climber, which is how she met her husband. She also enjoys playing cards and traveling around Massachusetts with her husband and two boys.