While many high school students are still discovering their career paths, Sarah Siddiqui set her sights on a clear goal early on. Growing up in a medically underserved community near Scranton, Pennsylvania, Siddiqui saw firsthand how limited access to health care affected the lives of those around her—and she was determined to make a difference.
In her senior year, Siddiqui was accepted into Pitt’s Guaranteed Admission Program (GAP), securing a direct path to the School of Medicine. However, instead of following a straight line to that goal, she chose a detour—pursuing an MPH in health policy and management (HPM) at the School of Public Health, where she’ll graduate this May.
Siddiqui, a sociology major, began her studies at Pitt in the fall of 2021. With her upcoming graduation, she will have condensed six years of education into just four. Her motivation, she says, comes from a desire to help on an individual level as a clinician, and to make a broader impact on population health. One of only a handful of GAP students to pursue an MPH, she opted for health policy instead of epidemiology, which is the more common choice.
“One of the reasons I wanted to be in the HPM program was because I have always had an interest in health policy, but I didn't know how it would fit into my medical career,” Siddiqui explains. “I knew it was something I likely wouldn’t learn in medical school, but it was important to me to figure out how I could best support underserved communities.”
In the summer before her sophomore year at Pitt, Siddiqui worked on Capitol Hill with then-senator Bob Casey (D-PA) on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and became even more enthusiastic about health policy. “That experience showed me that you can blend your interests in a meaningful way if it’s something you’re passionate about,” she says.
Finishing her undergraduate degree a year early, Siddiqui considered her options, and contacted Cindy Bryce, PhD, associate professor of health policy and management at the School of Public Health. Together, they came up with a plan that would enable Siddiqui to complete an MPH before starting medical school in fall 2025.
“Sarah shows incredible initiative and has excellent time management skills,” says Bryce. “She knows what kind of clinician she wants to be and the difference that she wants to make. Her training in public health and policy have provided insights about the underserved communities that she most wants to serve.”
“Through the HPM program, I learned that a lot of change is driven through public health and policy,” adds Siddiqui. “Everything is so interconnected and impacts medicine and patient care in such a deep way.”
While working toward her MPH, Siddiqui has continued to take on new challenges. She was accepted into the school’s Health Justice Scholars Program for the 2024-25 academic year, joining a cohort of 10 students dedicated to advancing health equity and justice. She has also been working as a policy research assistant for Pitt’s Health Policy Institute, conducting research on unintentional injuries for older adults in their homes at the University’s Healthy Home Lab, a project aimed at supporting “aging in place.”
Siddiqui is also making plans for the summer ahead. As a fellow with the Institute for Equity-Centered Leadership—formerly the Pittsburgh Schweitzer Honors Program—she will join Pitt students from public health, medicine, pharmacy and dental medicine in a 16-month program dedicated to addressing the social determinants of health.
Though Siddiqui’s journey is still unfolding, it’s clear that whatever direction she takes after graduating from medical school in 2029, she will continue to be a strong role model for her younger sisters, ages nine and 17. “They keep me grounded when life gets hard, as it often does,” she shares. Naturally, Siddiqui is eager to keep learning as she looks toward the future.
"I’m just trying to stay as open as possible,” she says. “I don’t want to become too fixated on one thing and miss out on something else I might love."
-Clare Collins