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Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Sahaj Singh ‘16
General Surgery Resident, Memorial Healthcare System, Pembroke Pines, FL
BS-MD, University of Nevada, Reno, Class of 2024
MBA, University of Nevada, Reno, Class of 2022
Sage Ridge School, Class of 2016
“Some of the biggest lessons I learned at Sage Ridge were concerning work ethic and great communication with peers, professors and mentors. Sage Ridge is the kind of environment that allows you to think levels ahead of where you’re technically at, meaning that yes, you may be a senior in high school, but the work you are given at Sage Ridge, the complexity of the reading materials, the types of things you’re doing in and out of the classroom, all of those things contribute to being able to communicate better when entering college, business or medical school and career.” - Dr. Sahaj Singh ‘16
What should the Reno-Tahoe community know about Sage Ridge?
“Sage Ridge is a true hidden gem in many ways. The special things are pretty self-evident if you look at alumni who come out of Sage Ridge over the past 25 years and the things they have accomplished. There is no better evidence to tell you what a school offers or what it is unless you look at the product of that school, which is the alumni. If you look at that, that’s everything you need to know about Sage Ridge.”
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Reno is where Sage Ridge alumnus Dr. Sahaj Singh ‘16 fell in love with medicine.
Between an injury that required Dr. Singh to become a patient of local orthopedic surgeon Peter Althausen, M.D., and a Sage Ridge teacher who introduced Dr. Singh to the magic of biology, the impact of medical care on a patient's quality of life enthralled Dr. Singh.
“When I fractured an elbow in 5th grade, I met this great Reno orthopedic surgeon who I still keep in touch with—Dr. Peter Althausen. I got to shadow him in high school and remembered the big impact he had on me," Dr. Singh said. "It was so cool seeing that even though I had a very debilitating injury in 5th grade, it healed in a matter of months. I had a chance to connect with Dr. Althausen as a high school student at Sage Ridge, and I just jumped on that opportunity. He even wrote my letters of recommendation for my MBA and medical school applications.”
One of Dr. Singh's favorite teachers at Sage Ridge was Dr. Bissonette (also a favorite teacher of Sage Ridge alumna and tenured track marine biology professor at Eckerd College Emily Lancaster ‘12).
"Dr. Bissonette is one of the people who got me into science, specifically biology,” Dr. Singh said. “She is one of the reasons I applied to the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) BS-MD program and she laid the foundation for what was to come for the seven years of medical school.”
The BS-MD program at UNR for Dr. Singh included three years to complete his Bachelor of Science in Biology followed by four years of medical school. Dr. Singh graduated from the program this year, taking a gap year in 2021-2022 to complete an MBA from UNR while also conducting research on chronic Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and working in the ER documenting comprehensive patient encounters in real-time as a scribe.
After years of studying to become a doctor in Reno, Dr. Singh moved to Florida last month for his five-year residency in General Surgery at Memorial Healthcare System in Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Miami. Once he completes his residency, Dr. Singh plans to specialize in minimally invasive surgery laparoscopy/robotic surgery for trauma patients suffering from traumatic falls, gunshot wounds and assaults.
“When I was interviewing for residency programs, a lot of people I interviewed with told me that minimally invasive surgery and trauma are on completely different spectrums,” Dr. Singh said. “But minimally invasive surgery is growing most rapidly in surgery, and the most expansion in that field is trauma.”
Dr. Singh’s other favorite Sage Ridge teacher, Dr. McGann, helped him with residency applications.
“Dr. McGann is amazing in every way and taught so well at Sage Ridge. I connected with Dr. McGann again when I was applying for residency because we have to write a personal statement, and I really wanted to take my time on my statement. I reached out to Dr. McGann and Dr. Bissonette because a lot of my statement involved my upbringing, being raised in Reno, and my work ethic and interest in healthcare," Dr. Singh said. "They were a big part of that, and I sent my personal statement to Dr. McGann because she is probably the best writer I’ve ever met. And her feedback went into the final version of that personal statement that ended up being a part of my application for residency.”
Dr. McGann has been a Sage Ridge English faculty member since 2010. She is the English Department Head and teaches Scorpions in 10th- and 12th-grade. Alumni often mention Dr. McGann as an influential figure in their life, not only at Sage Ridge School but also in their higher education and career pursuits.
Dr. Singh raved about a newer Sage Ridge science faculty member he knew from UNR Medical School. Dr. Brady Janes held positions at the UNR School of Medicine as the Director of Curriculum Development and Assessment and the Director of Student Affairs. Dr. Janes joined Sage Ridge as a full-time science department faculty member in January 2024 and teaches Upper School Scorpions AP and Honors Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, Engineering and Human Anatomy & Physiology.
“Dr. Janes was our go-to for any problem and was the glue that held the UNR Medical School together,” Dr. Singh said. “Sage Ridge got a great person. We missed her at UNR Med.”
What is Dr. Singh looking forward to most in residency?
“Honestly, the chance to pursue this dream I’ve had for over a decade now. I’ve always loved surgery so much, so now I'm looking forward to practicing and building up those skills.”
Best of luck to Scorpion Dr. Singh in his General Surgery Residency at Memorial Healthcare System in Pembroke Pines, Florida!
Dr. Sahaj Singh '16 and his Sage Ridge School Varsity Boys Basketball teammates. Dr. Singh was a Scorpion scholar-athlete at Sage Ridge participating in Varsity Basketball and Varsity Soccer every year of high school, as well as Cross Country and Wrestling in Middle School.