Skip to main content.

Endowed fund will carry on former resident’s love for rural family medicine

The quick establishment of the Dr. Lan Ly, M.D., Student Support Fund for Rural Family Medicine shows how much of an impact Ly has made on colleagues, friends and patients.

Lan Ly, M.D., examines her niece, Violet Mos
Lan Ly, M.D., examines her niece, Violet Mos, who she delivered during her residency at KUSM-Wichita’s Wesley Family Medicine program. (Courtesy photos)

While the medical career of Lan Ly, M.D., has been cut short by a terminal illness, her legacy and passion for the practice of rural family medicine will continue through an endowed fund that reached its investment minimum of $25,000 in just two weeks.

For Ly’s friends, colleagues and others, the Dr. Lan Ly, M.D. ’14, m’18 Student Support Fund for Rural Family Medicine has provided a tangible way to express how much of an impact she has made on them, particularly her ability to connect with patients.

“I hope she knows how impactful she’s been,” said Amanda Just Rhyne, M.D., the chief medical officer with Salina Family Healthcare Center who first met Ly when they were both residents with KU School of Medicine-Wichita’s Wesley Family Medicine program. “I try to tell her that every time I see her, but she’s so humble.”

The 38-year-old Ly (pronounced Lee), who completed her residency in 2017, was diagnosed with gastric cancer in April 2023.

Drs. Lan Ly and Amanda RhyneShe received chemotherapy and immunotherapy to treat the cancer and in August 2024, she had her stomach removed. Because of multiple post-op complications and no further medical recourse, Ly entered hospice care in November.

Earlier in 2024, Ly, her husband, Thanh “Tip” Bui, and their 3 1/2-year-old son, Micah, had moved from Manhattan, where Ly had been with CenterPointe Physicians, to the Wichita area so Ly could be closer to her family.

“She should have had 20 or 30 more years to do the thing that she loves deeply: practice medicine. (The fund) is a great way to help advance what she loved to do, and we can feel like we are doing something in a space that feels pretty helpless,” said Rhyne, who approached Ly about setting up the fund and then spearheaded the effort.

Ly’s brother, Doan, who was at his sister’s bedside when Rhyne asked about creating the fund, reminded her, “Lan, you’ve always said you wanted to change the world and this is a way to do that,’” Rhyne recalled.

For Ly, the response is nothing short of “shocking … but I definitely feel very loved and supported,” she said in a phone interview in early January.

A love for medicine

Ly’s reaction to going to the doctor as a kid provided a clue about what she wanted to be when she grew up.

“Every time I went to the doctor’s office, I always enjoyed it,” Ly said. “I really like to learn, and medicine provided that. I enjoyed helping people and the challenges of finding the correct diagnosis and treatment plan.”

To afford medical school, Ly took advantage of the Kansas Medical Loan Program, which provides loan forgiveness for KU medical students who agree to stay and practice in Kansas after residency.

“It provided me with monetary support, and I ended up loving family medicine in my rotations. In family medicine, I was able to form long-term connections with my patients, which allowed me to take care of them better,” Ly said.

She’s hoping support from the endowed fund will also help medical students financially and instill a similar love, particularly because of the great need for rural family medicine physicians in Kansas.

“She really devoted herself to medicine and was very dynamic,” said Rick Kellerman, M.D., who was chair of the KUSM-Wichita Department of Family & Community Medicine when Ly finished medical school and completed her residency.

After her residency, Ly and her husband moved to Manhattan, where she was able to fulfill her loan agreement and her passion for medicine. During her seven years of practice in Manhattan, Ly cared for “everyone from kids to adults,” she said, including residents of a nursing home. She also served as a hospitalist and was a hospice medical director for a year.

“The feedback I received from a lot of patients is just how comfortable they felt with Lan and how they felt she truly cared about them. They felt that connection to her as a result,” said Matthew W. Floersch, M.D., a co-founder of CenterPointe Physicians. “And everybody on our team, from our nurses to our front desk staff, absolutely loves her, too.”

“Our clinic is built on relationships, and Lan really fit in well with that,” added Segen E. Smith Chase, M.D., the practice’s other co-founder.

An uncommon diagnosis

As Ly developed more severe, ongoing stomach pains following Micah’s birth, the challenge of finding a diagnosis became personal.

She asked her physician to perform an upper endoscopy, which led to the diagnosis of gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer.

While stomach cancer was the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. for much of the early 20th century, “today it is well down on this list,” according to the American Cancer Society. It now accounts for about 1.5% of all new cancers diagnosed in the U.S. and generally affects older people.

The incidence of gastric cancer is higher in other parts of the world, however, particularly in East Asia, according to the American Cancer Society.

Because the symptoms of stomach cancer can mimic other gastrointestinal issues, such as indigestion and acid reflux, it often goes undiagnosed until it’s more advanced, according to an article on the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center website.

One of the strongest risk factors for stomach cancer is Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria. H. pylori is a common bacteria found in many people and is a common cause of peptic ulcers, as well. Most people who have the bacteria don’t have any symptoms so it goes undetected and untreated. Tests confirmed H. pylori’s presence in Ly.

Ly pursued treatment at two National Cancer Institute designated cancer centers — M.D. Anderson in Houston and the City of Hope Duarte in California in the months after her April diagnosis.

Leading by example

Ly’s ability to lead by example was one of the ways in which she made an impact, Rhyne said.

“She was the one who really taught me how to teach and so now I'm a teacher in the residency program,” Rhyne said. KUSM-Wichita sponsors three residency programs: with Ascension and Wesley in Wichita and with a practice in Salina, where Rhyne lives.

Caroline Reusser (Class of 2019), Lan Ly (Class of 2017), Amanda Rhyne (Class of 2019) and Kristen Cline (Class of 2019)“I feel like I carry myself with confidence because of the lessons that she taught me back when I was a first-year resident,” Rhyne said. Ly was in her final year of residency when the two met.

Rhyne, Ly’s colleagues at CenterPointe and Kellerman described Ly as having a calm, reassuring confidence when interacting with patients and others.

She’s carried that calm, transparent demeanor through her cancer diagnosis as well, they noted, as Ly shared her diagnosis, treatment and the disease’s impact through a blog and conversations.

“She has walked this journey so gracefully and has allowed others to travel on it with her and is giving them the space to grieve. How she has led by example has been powerful,” said Chase.

Ly even provided testimony on Capitol Hill to advocate for more research into stomach cancer, her CenterPointe colleagues noted.

In addition to Ly’s family, friends and colleagues, supporters of the Ly fund include several faculty and graduates of the Wesley Family Medicine residency program, CenterPointe Physicians and the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians Foundation.

To contribute to the fund, please contact Brad Rukes, KU Endowment senior development director-Wichita, at 316-293-2641 or brukes@kuendowment.org.

At top left: Amanda Just Rhyne, M.D., left, first met Lan Ly, M.D., when they were residents with KUSM-Wichita’s Wesley Family Medicine program. Now Rhyne is spearheading a fund in Ly’s name to express how much of an impact Ly has made on her colleagues, friends and especially her patients.

Lower left: Pictured from left to right, during a 2016 resident retreat are Caroline Reusser, Class of 2019; Lan Ly, Class of 2017; Amanda Rhyne, Class of 2019; and Kristen Cline, Class of 2019.


KU School of Medicine-Wichita