Interview: Sara Ksiazek – EAT Austria

 

Group location: Vienna, Austria

What is your name?
Sara Helena Ksiazek 

How old are you?
22

How is your university called?
Medical University of Vienna

As a medical student, which year are you?
I’m currently in my fourth year, which means I have two more to go.

What are your hobbies?
Netflix (spending way too much time there), Pilates, Kickboxing, Baking, Reading, Shopping

When did you join EAT?
I joined EAT at the end of my first year.

Since when do you work as supervisor of your EAT group?
I share the position as a supervisor with Anna Nagel since the beginning of the term 2016/2017.

What is your motivation for this job?
In Austria 27% of teenagers smoke and it is still permitted to smoke at the age of 16. However, the knowledge of how smoking can affect your body is unfortunately very little not only among teenagers but also adults. Therefore, I feel obliged to do something about this problem, starting by targeting children before they smoke their first cigarette (10-13) and make them spread the word to their parents. Also, I really enjoy working with children and getting to know their view or experiences with this topic.

Which is the innovation/improvement, you worked on, you are most proud of?
Anna and I changed a lot when we took over the supervisor position, but I am most proud of the presentation, we use in our school visits.

Which advice would you give a first-year medical student?
Write summaries of the things you learn, starting from the first year! It is easier to remember, when you use your own words to describe something and as you will hear everything at least twice during your study of medicine, it is great to have your own summaries in which you can look things up again (Oh, and don’t buy Netflix…you won’t have time to study anymore.)