Sketchy Spotlight: A Future Family Planning Doctor

Sarah is starting her second year at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is an advocate for abortion care and reproductive rights, and she spent the past summer working at an abortion clinic, which is why she plans to focus her studies on family planning. She loves how Sketchy gives her time to enjoy the outdoors from hiking to skiing and everything in between.

Year: MS2

School: Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine

I love Sketchy because… it saves me time that I get to spend outside in nature.

I am passionate about… helping other people understand and navigate changes in their bodies as a physician.

Favorite Sketchy lessons… Neisseria: Overview, Sjogren's Syndrome, Systemic Sclerosis, & Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Quantitative Platelet Disorders

*interview has been lightly edited for clarity*

Q: What interested you in medicine?

Sarah: My interest in medicine was sparked mostly by my experience as a patient. I grew up with lots of different chronic illnesses. I spent a lot of time in the doctor's office, and it was the physicians every time who really helped me understand exactly what was happening inside of my body.

Q: What field of medicine are you hoping to go into and why?

Sarah: I am interested in going into family planning because abortion care affects everyone, and it's affected people that I love. I grew up from a very young age knowing that abortion care was important, it's normal, and we need unlimited access to it.

Q: With Roe vs. Wade getting overturned, can you talk through what that's like going into family planning right now?

Sarah: I consider myself to be an advocate for abortion rights and reproductive justice and going into abortion care now is very scary. What's going to make it hard is that with different states having different kinds of regulations that will affect different residency programs. Residents may not be able to access that type of education.

Q: What would you want to tell the world about abortion care?

Sarah: I would want everyone to know, not just people in medicine, that we really need to be talking about these kinds of things. People have beliefs on abortion care that fall all across the spectrum. No matter what you believe, we need to be able to sit down, and we need to be able to have a conversation about it.

Q: What was your first year in med school like?

Sarah: Medical school has been very hard. I'm not going to lie. I had to really learn time management skills. I really wanted to sit there and study all day, every single day. I actually did do that for a little bit, and I realized that wasn't working well for me. I really had to sort of figure out how to balance school and also take care of myself.

Q: How have you improved your study habits as well as time management?

Sarah: One strategy that helped me study was Sketchy. I really enjoy watching these sort of consolidated fun cartoon videos that really include some of the most high-yield concepts in each system that I was taking. I was able to spend truthfully less time studying but learning from watching these videos. That allowed me to have extra time to go out and also do the things that I enjoy. The time that Sketchy has saved me, I really try to spend outside. I'm surrounded by some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

Q: Any advice for pre-meds or MS1s?

Sarah: If I could give one piece of advice to anyone interested in medical school or starting medical school soon, it's probably that you have to do the things that bring you joy. You can't do medical school all the time, and it's a very long journey.

Watch the full interview.