Faking Symptoms – It’s What She Does Best

Sarah DaMetz, U’16, Puts Her Theatre Degree to Work

Sarah DaMetz, U’16, spent her days at the University of Saint Mary gracing the stage in Xavier Theatre. From day one on campus, she was destined to be a star—embracing every opportunity to not just be a lead, but to build sets, piece together costumes, and master make-up and hair.

“Coming to a small school doesn’t mean less opportunity. Instead, it’s taught me every aspect of theatre.”

Coming to a small school doesn’t mean less opportunity,” explained Sarah. “Instead, it’s taught me every aspect of theatre.”

This attitude she’s carried forth to her professional life, too. Sarah is quite a Renaissance woman—enjoying dabbling in just about every market a theatre major could imagine.

On top of building an impressive portfolio of voice work (including video recordings and advertising for Saint Mary), Sarah works as a standardized patient for the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.

Working as a standardized patient calls Sarah to portray the physical symptoms, emotional characteristics, and everyday concerns of an actual patient with a particular illness or condition. From mental illness and psychological cases to portraying physical ailments, she’s trained to provide constructive written and verbal feedback, from the perspective of her character, to improve physician-to-patient connections.

“I joke with my dad, who is a high school anatomy teacher, that I’m an actress working in the health care industry,” Sarah said. “And I am … in a twisted way— which is something I never dreamed of, but something I find so challenging and rewarding to be a part of.”

Though Sarah may have never thought her stage would be in an exam room, she is helping shape the doctors of tomorrow. She truly epitomizes what it means to be a Saint Marian—one using her God-given talent to impact the world and serve its greatest needs.