Sara McElroy is in her third rotation of intern year at The Children’s Hospital at the University of Oklahoma. In first grade, when she was student of the month, Sara made a poster and answered the question of what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her desire in first grade was to be a doctor. While she had no clue what that meant as a first grader, throughout high school whenever she considered her future career, the medical field remained an interest. Growing up in Lee’s Summit, MO, a suburb of Kansas City, Sara took many opportunities to work with kids. She enjoyed babysitting and helping with kid’s camps at church.
In college, at Southeast Missouri State University, Sara knew that medicine was the right career choice and jumped in head first by declaring her major as Biomedical Science. Outside of school, Sara got very involved at her church. She volunteered with preschool kids each week and youth group. While she enjoyed her science classes, research and leadership positions in organizations, the best day of every week was Friday when she got to shadow Dr. Hoffman, a local pediatrician in the community. He took yearly trips to underserved countries to provide medical care to those who needed it most, and during her junior and senior year, Sara had the privilege of accompanying his team on medical mission trips to Nicaragua and Honduras.
In medical school at the University of Missouri, Sara considered a couple of specialties, but considering all of her previous volunteer work with kids and youth, she always knew that she would thrive in the area of pediatrics. She got to go on another medical mission trip during her first year to Guatemala and loved her new role as a provider. During her pediatrics rotations third and fourth year, Sara especially enjoyed the areas of Hematology-Oncology, Infectious Disease, and general inpatient medicine. At the moment, she is unsure if she will pursue a fellowship or do general pediatrics, because she likes so many areas. It is to be determined!
In her free time, Sara enjoys playing tennis and volleyball, learning to play the guitar, singing, getting involved at church and hanging out with her family and friends.