Former tennis star Wood shifting focus to medical school

It wasn’t long ago that Topsfield’s Sasha Wood was swiftly climbing the professional tennis ranks.

Among her many accomplishments, Wood qualified and competed in the Australian Open and US Open major events, won a pair of titles in Mexico, and another in Tunisia. Before turning 20, she had reached a career-high women’s world ranking of 146, winning over 20 international titles in both singles and doubles.

But like so many other athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Wood’s plans for a lengthy career in the sport were put on hold. Her experiences traveling the globe and competing against some of the top players in the world is something she’ll never take for granted, but for now her focus has shifted elsewhere.

After completing her freshman year at Columbia University, Wood transferred to Yale to continue her pre-medical studies in biochemistry. In an effort to fast track her education and take some of the burden off her workload, she applied to medical school via the FlexMed early admission program, beating the odds of the near one percent acceptance rate by getting in.

“I’m still playing tennis now but focusing a lot on my studies; they’ve taken a priority,” said Wood, 21. “The (FlexMed) program runs out of Mount Sinai (a large hospital system in NYC), and essentially you apply as a sophomore and if you’re accepted, the program allows you to be admitted into medical school early. It just takes a lot of the stress out of the normal admission process.”

In applying for the unique and often overlooked program, Wood was required to send in her transcripts, curriculum vitae (CV) and personal statements before enduring an interview process. Perhaps most noteworthy is the fact that she won’t have to take the MCAT exam, one of the more difficult standardized tests in any field.

“That’s the scary monster that everyone fears, the MCAT,” said Wood. “So not only did I have the stress taken off my shoulders from the application process, but it also allowed me to skip the biggest test that medical students have to go through.”

Finding her path

It’s not often that a player of Wood’s caliber and beaming tennis potential leaves at the top of their game to pursue a medical career. So what was it that prompted her to make that decision?

Believe it or not, it all comes back to tennis.

“In the beginning stages of my tennis career, I traveled to developing countries where you see so much poverty and so many precarious situations,” explained Wood. “Being in those environments, I knew I didn’t want to just drive back and forth from the hotel to the tournament site; I wanted to make some sort of impact.”

That’s when Wood founded her non-profit, “Swing for a Purpose”, with the goal of teaching tennis to underprivileged children in the areas she was traveling to. Through fundraisers, she collected donations such as clothing, toiletries, tennis equipment, school supplies and more, traveling to over 35 different countries such as Bolivia, Morrocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Trinidad.

Her work on the courts soon developed into something far greater as she began volunteering at hospitals while on the road, too.

“I volunteered at the Harare Central Hospital in Zimbabwe, and to have experience in health care in Zimbabwe was just incredible,” she said. “It really set my desire to become a doctor. In fact, it didn’t just inspire me to become a doctor ... it told me that I had to be one.”

Many of the foreign hospitals, including that in Zimbabwe, are understaffed and overworked. Wood knows this issue isn’t just occurring overseas but in the United States as well, and her goal is to continue to make a difference.

“Just to see how hard they worked, they’d be there for the entire 24-hour shift. To see that was incredibly sad,” said Wood. “I think in the U.S. we have a lot of problems in our own healthcare system, too, so it’s not just centralized to other countries.”

Moving forward

Wood couldn’t be more happy or proud to be accepted into the FlexMed program, and firmly encourages others to do the same.

“I think everyone has something special to offer. I know looking at the acceptance rate can be quite intimidating, but I can’t stress enough to not be afraid and go for it,” Wood said. “You may be surprised with the outcome, just as I was.”

At this stage in her educational journey, she’s still learning every day while attempting to hone in on where she wants to be upon graduation. Wood is leaving the door open in terms of where she’ll ultimately carry out her career, saying she could definitely see herself working in another country.

“I’ve thought a lot about what type of doctor I want to become, but I don’t want to close myself off quite yet. I still have a lot of exploring to do,” she said.

In terms of tennis, Wood is still grinding whenever she has free time. She continues to train with Canadian professional Leylah Fernandez, an accomplished young player who was a finalist in the 2021 U.S. Open and Wood’s doubles partner at the 2019 Australian Open.

She cherishes the game that’s impacted her in more ways than she could imagine, and hasn’t ruled out a return to the pros at some point.

“Tennis has such a special place in my heart and has provided me with such incredible experiences that I’ll forever be grateful for,” she said. “During my break I’ll continue to train and hopefully get to some professional tournaments as well.

“Without tennis I don’t think I would’ve found the interest and intense desire to become a doctor.”