Update from Sarah from September 2020:
I am done with residency, and am now in fellowship at OSU & Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. I am focusing on pulmonary (lung disease) in both kids & adults; on the adult side that also means that half of my training is in critical care. With the intensive care unit being part of my job/training program, this year has been interesting for sure.
From September 2018
What are you up to these days? Tell us about your accomplishments since leaving Community School.
I am a fourth-year resident at Duke, in a combined Internal Medicine & Pediatrics program. After leaving Community School, I went to Roanoke College and then to the University of Pittsburgh for medical school. My residency program is four years long, and at the end of residency I am able to be licensed in both Internal Medicine and in Pediatrics. I am not entirely sure what I am going to do after residency, but I would like to work with both adult patients and children and to work primarily in the hospital setting – I am thinking about doing a fellowship in critical care.
How do you feel that your time at CS influenced or prepared you for your academic and/or career path going forward?
I think that my time at CS made me more confident in creating my own path, in areas such as pursuing a combined residency program, doing global health work, and directing a musical during medical school. By nature I am somebody who tends to color inside the lines, but Community School taught me to go beyond my comfort zone and become comfortable with thinking outside the box. In a more concrete sense, the focus at Community School on critical thinking and the humanities has made me both a better scientist and a better writer. Community School also helped me to be a more well-rounded person, which is important both on a personal level and in my interactions with patients.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Community School provides many opportunities and a lot of flexibility – I would encourage current students to be proactive and take advantage of all that CS has to offer.
Sarah Cohen is a graduate of University of Pittsburgh Medical School and in her final year of a dual medical residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center. She graduated as co-valedictorian from Roanoke College in 2011. Sarah attended Community School for five years and is a graduate of Community High.