Given his dedication to and extra-curricular involvement in the community, it’s a wonder Michael Sattin had the time to study over his past three years at Western.
Spending the bulk of his free time volunteering with charitable organizations at home and in developing countries, working part-time in a campus lab, serving as the associate editor of the Western Undergraduate Research Journal while also playing intramural sports, Sattin did so well in his studies, the 20-year-old is on the fast track to medical school, bypassing his fourth year and heading to Queen’s University in the fall.
“For the last little while, I’ve had nostalgic moments and thought maybe it would have been nice to come back and spend my fourth year with my friends. But I’m really excited to go to med school,” Sattin said. “I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.
“I get to go where I’ve wanted to go for so long, that much quicker.”
Not expecting to do well on his Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Sattin thought he would write it early, reasoning he’d have a second chance to get a better score before applying to medical school in his fourth year.
When his expectations proved wrong, he applied to five different schools to study medicine, landing an interview at each. Originally from St. Catherines, Sattin chose Queen’s because he prefers to live in a smaller city.
Over the past three years, Sattin has kept busy at Western, not just inside the classroom.
He has participated in Western’s Alternative Spring Break as well as Western Heads East. In 2010, he joined a number of other undergraduate students and volunteered at an orphanage in Mexico where his desire to work in medicine was solidified.
There, Sattin bonded with an abandoned toddler at the orphanage, one that came to call him ‘tio,’ meaning uncle. The bond and experience showed him he was best suited for a compassionate role, working as a physician and helping patients, he said.
“The idea of working with patients, talking to people who have gone through procedures like chemo – the look of awe in their eyes as they say how a doctor or a procedure brought them back to life – it really excites me.”
At home, Sattin has enjoyed making a difference – all three years – with a Health Sciences student group called Learning It Together (LIT).
“It’s a group of student volunteers who go to elementary schools – usually in areas that are underprivileged or where socio-economic status is low. After school, the students teach healthy lifestyles and skills to students (Grades 1-3). It’s about learning and being a good role model,” he explained.
“I just loved it. It might sound cheesy, but it gave me something to look forward to at the end of the day. You get there at the end of the day, and your LIT buddy runs to you and they’re so excited to see you. If you’re not there for a week, the next week they’re like ‘Where were you?’ That’s been one of the most beneficial experiences for me.”
But there’s so much more he’s done, and continues to do at Western.
Sattin was published in two undergraduate journals – ones not related to health sciences – in his first year.
He has spent the last year, and is spending the rest of this summer – thanks to a Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada grant – working in Dr. Cheryle Séguin’s lab on campus, working with graduate students to model the development of pancreatic progenitors and better understand Type I diabetes.
“But I hang out with friends, mostly. Believe it or not, I spend more time socially, than I do studying,” Sattin said with a laugh.