Meet Ashwini (“Ash”) Sarathy, a CCS “super volunteer” in FY22. As a first-year med student at The Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, Ash was part of an eight-student team that worked on a research project with our agency. She called that Public Health Project (PHP) experience, “a unique opportunity to learn about the firsthand experiences of patients with disabilities in their own words. In particular, I know we gained a lot of perspective from attending one of the Advocacy meetings with the consumers.”

Ash also offers her time and expertise to write a monthly blog – “Let’s Talk About Health with Ash” – offering health and wellness insights to the CCS community.

“Every month I look forward to writing the blog posts, and really enjoy coming up with new recipes, tips and ideas to share,” Ash said. “It’s a chance for me to translate some of the things I am learning in medical school to real life suggestions, and i have felt more connected to the CCS community through the blogs.”

Originally from Boston, Ash graduated from the College of William & Mary before beginning her medical school journey at UVM. Her experiences with CCS are in line with her career plans. 

“In the future, I hope to work with patients with disabilities in some capacity as a physician,” she said. “I am still exploring the various specialties out there, but my experience with the PHP project and CCS has furthered my interest in working with this unique and wonderful population of patients.”