A Childhood Illness Inspired Graduate’s Interest in Medicine

The aspiring doctor and dedicated flutist is exploring how the arts might intersect with healing in her future career

A frightening childhood bout of the flu that sent Christina Sarkes to the hospital in the middle of the night sparked an interest in medicine at only eight-years-old.

"All I remember is how kind the doctors were," said Sarkes, 21, who grew up in West Orange. "That stuck with me. What began as a moment of fear became the beginning of a lifelong ambition."

The daughter of Egyptian immigrants is working to become the first physician in her family. She graduated this week from Rutgers University-Newark at the top of her class with a 3.9 GPA, completing a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. She is also a member of Phi Betta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States.

While medicine is her number one goal, Sarkes-who graduated with minors in music and chemistry-has a story that goes beyond science. A dedicated flutist since third grade, she has carried her love of music into college, performing with the NJIT Wind Ensemble. Music, she said, offers a balance in what can often be a stressful environment. After recently discovering literature on how music can be used as medicine, Sarkes, the recipient of the Kimler Endowed Scholarship awarded to a full-time students pursuing a career in music through the department of Visual and Performing Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences, has begun exploring how the arts might intersect with healing in her future career.

"I'd love to see how music can play a role in patient care," she said. "I think there's something powerful there."

Jesse Gelber, who taught Sarkes to play the piano said Sarkes was a novice who had a gritty work ethic that resulted in "gorgeously interpreting Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in less than three years.

"In 30 years of teaching piano, I've worked with beginners, professionals and every level in between," said Gelber, a lecturer in the department of Arts, Culture and Music at Rutgers-Newark. "I can honestly say Christina learned more in a shorter period of time than any students I have ever worked with."

Sarkes attributes much of her academic success to the support she received through student organizations that offered her mentorship, service opportunities and a chance to connect with others like her who were navigating similar paths.

"When I came to college and found a community, that really solidified my passion to become a doctor," said Sarkes who received the Office of Student Life and Leadership's Excellence in Leadership award, given to a sophomore or junior student who inspires or motivates others to become engaged and involved in the campus community.

She joined the Rutgers-Newark Health Professions Learning Community, a selective group of aspiring health care students connected from their first year of college through graduation. "The group gave me a built-in support system," Sarkes said. "We took classes together, studied together and we're still close today."

Sarkes volunteered across Newark and worked as an internal medicine scribe at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center. The experience gave her a front-row view of patient care where she was able to observe not just diagnoses, but the importance of communication, empathy, and trust between physicians and patients.

Her academic path hasn't been without challenges. Chemistry once felt like her weakest subject. But the environment at Rutgers-Newark helped her turn things around and minor in the discipline, spending two years as a research assistant in the department studying DNA-based nanomaterials - an emerging field with implications for medicine and technology and working as a teaching assistant.

"Coming to college changed the environment and enabled me to reboot my brain and realize that chemistry was something I could master," she said. "It changed the type of person I was and also what I could become."

Next year, Sarkes plans to spend much of her time preparing for the medical school MCAT exam. Rutgers New Jersey Medical School is her top choice, she said, and one of the main reasons she chose Rutgers-Newark to start her academy journey.

Sarkes is keeping an open mind in deciding her future medical specialty. Radiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and sports medicine all interest her, each offering a different way to blend science, technology, and patient care.

She said being a member of the Coptic Orthodox religion, an ancient Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination which at its core believes in serving others with humility, patience and unconditional love, is an important part of her life and will shape her career as a physician and the way she views service, compassion and purpose.

"I just want to be that person who is there to help and support someone else," she said.