Finding a way to help others through her work has been a guiding force in Sarah Hayes’ (B.S. Biology) life, and she reports that she found excellent faculty role models for doing so in the College of Biological Sciences. “They helped me learn to stop at nothing in pursuing my passions and interests, even if I wasn’t taking the same route as everyone else,” she says.

“I loved the thought of applying my background in biology and chemistry to help others directly through a professional degree in the healthcare field, so I began working in a retail pharmacy,” Hayes says. She plans to complete her doctor of pharmacy degree at the University’s College of Pharmacy next year, and then hopes to complete a residency following graduation also. She volunteers her time as president of the Student College of Clinical Pharmacy at the U of M.

In addition to graduate school, she’s working on a research team in the Intensive Care Unit at Fairview University Hospital, studying novel sedative use with mechanically ventilated patients. “With the help of my faculty mentor, Dr. Debra Skaar, I am developing my own independent studies focused specifically on exposure to sedative medications such as Propofol, Midazolam and Fentanyl in the ICU.”

Hayes credits Dr. Skaar for supporting her interest in clinical pharmacy. “I have been so fortunate to call her my mentor,” says Hayes, noting proudly that Skaar was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine for service, interdisciplinary practice and research.”