Faces of U of T Medicine: Kate Sauks
Name: Kate Sauks
Program: Rehabilitation Science
Role/position: PhD Graduate and Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games Gold Medal rower
What inspired you to take up rowing?
My younger sister, Jennifer Sauks, inspired me to try rowing. She was on the Varsity Rowing Team for a couple years before I gave it a try. I was on the Varsity Track and Field team, eager to make a mark as a pole vaulter. However, in my second year of graduate studies, I retired from pole vaulting after a series of injuries and was eager to try something new. My sister invited me to the club and to try rowing, and I was hooked right away. Rowing is unique in that many people don't learn how to row until University and still go on to by elite rowers. I realized that I could have a chance at competing at a high level with rowing even though I didn't start the sport until my mid-twenties.
What did you like best about competing in the Pan Am Games?
It was a huge honour to be part of Team Canada at the Pan Am Games. What made this event really special and unique was that we were competing on home soil. The grandstand was packed with friends and family and I will never forget the roar of the crowd as Liz and I were approaching the finish. Winning gold was wonderful, but winning gold in front of my friends and family and seeing their excitement was even better.
Has your education in Rehabilitation Sciences and Anatomy influenced the way you see sports?
I think my education in Rehabilitation Sciences and Anatomy has enabled me to appreciate how important the plasticity of the human body is for able body- and para sport. Sport requires the ability to learn new skills, to undergo changes in body composition when activity stimulus changes, as well as the ability to repair, recover, and adapt from mild to severe muscle, bone and nervous injuries. Because of my education, I not only see sport as competitive movements but also the fantastic processes that are occurring within our bodies to enable us to participate in sport.
What are your career goals and how did your studies at the Faculty of Medicine prepare you for your future?
My supervisor, Dr. Anne Agur, is a huge mentor and role model to me. Her enthusiasm for anatomy, teaching and research really is catching and I was inspired early in my graduate studies to pursue teaching. My career goal, once I hang up my oars, is to be an anatomy professor. My graduate studies at U of T really fostered this passion, first through the opportunity to take anatomy with the medical students, and later a neruroanatomy course, but also through the many TA positions available in which I taught anatomy and neuroanatomy to first year medical students, physician assistants, physical therapy and occupational therapy students as well as first year physical education and health students. Between teaching and having the opportunity to conduct research in various laboratories throughout the university, I believe that my studies at the Faculty of Medicine were a great stepping-stone to becoming an anatomy professor.
What’s your favourite thing about the Faculty of Medicine?
I love how many departments encompass the Faculty of Medicine, and that the professors from each are so willing to contribute their expertise to research students from outside of their departments within the faculty. I think this trait of the Faculty of Medicine inspires great research and better students.
Faces of U of T Medicine introduces you to some of the interesting men and women studying in the Faculty of Medicine. From advising political leaders to providing care to Toronto’s most vulnerable populations, our students are making an impact on communities at home and around the world. Do you have an interesting story to share? Send us an email at medicine.communications@utoronto.ca.
