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Trucco

Sarah Trucco (MED '03)

Sarah Trucco made many contributions to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. But her most colorful one hangs in Scaife Hall. Sarah presented her painting "Medicine for the Spirit" at the senior class luncheon in May 2003 as a gift from her class to the school. The painting features a collage of colorful figures dancing and singing.

"The point is even if you're working hard, music, theater, art...all of these things can provide medicine for the spirit," Sarah said.

Fittingly, Sarah painted the picture in between rehearsals for Scope and Scalpel, the annual musical theater production produced and performed by the School of Medicine's graduating class. The Class of 2003 performed "The Sopranolols" in front of a full house during Commencement Weekend in May.

Although Sarah enjoyed painting in high school, she found limited time to paint during her busy medical school career, relying instead on volunteer work to release the tension of classes.  

Sarah had her first experience with volunteering in high school when she worked with pregnant teens. It was then that she realized that she wanted to focus her medical studies on underserved populations in pediatrics. After graduating from Duke University, she applied to Pitt School of Medicine because of the quality of Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

As a student, Sarah was in charge of the Pediatric and Adolescent Interest Group (PAIG) and helped to coordinate lunchtime speakers and set up volunteer opportunities at Children's Hospital. She was also the coordinator for Pregnant Adolescents Learning with Students (PALS), a group of students who volunteered at Magee-Womens Hospital to help pregnant women who didn't have strong support systems.

Both experiences reaffirmed her commitment to pediatrics. Sarah is now doing an internship at Stanford's Lucille Packard Children's Hospital and learning just how valuable her education was.

Her parents, both doctors, also helped prepare her for a career in medicine. "I got a great education at Pitt," she said. "Some students here have never intubated, run codes, or run IVs. Dr. Rogers really prepared us for all of that in his critical care course."