Jugaad Sandhu

I’m Jugaad Sandhu, a UC Berkeley pre-med, certified medical assistant, educator, first-generation college student, and now the founder of MedNow.

My story did not traditionally start with medicine. It started in 2017, when I was 10 years old and my parents bought me my first computer. I still remember how quickly that computer became more than just a baseless media consumption tool. It became where I learned game development, design, community building, and how to turn spontaneous ideas into something real and impactful.

What started as curiosity grew into a decade+ of building online communities, leading teams, and creating digital experiences used by tens of millions of players worldwide. Through game development and community creation, I helped grow my own server to over 91,000 concurrent active members, supported multiple games with hundreds of thousands of active players, reviewed tens of thousands of staff and developer applications, and led teams of 50+ moderators, developers, and community staff simultaneously.

At the time, I did not know that building games and communities would shape the way I saw service. I just knew I loved bringing people together. I loved creating spaces where people could bond over something I helped build, make memories, find eternal online friends, and feel part of something bigger than themselves. Seeing something I created reach people across the world showed me how powerful building for others could be.

That same part of me eventually found its way into healthcare. As the son of immigrant parents, I grew up helping translate appointments, forms, instructions, and confusion. While helping care for my grandfather through congestive heart failure, a dual-chamber pacemaker, and stroke recovery that left him with hemiplegia, I saw how overwhelming healthcare can feel when people do not have clear explanations, simplicity, or support to advocate for themselves. Those experiences made medicine extremely personal. They showed me that care is not just about knowing the right answer. It is about helping people feel less lost when things are scary and making healthcare more equitable when the jargon and terminology get confusing.

As a certified medical assistant in cardiology, I have assisted with well over 700 patient exams, EKGs, vitals, patient intake, cardiology-specific testing, and direct clinical care. My work in healthcare, as well as my experience as a CMA program student, has been recognized through three consecutive Clinical Medical Assistant Recognition Awards, three consecutive Career Technical Education awards, a Senate-nominated honor, a Kiwanis Club Public Service Award, and three consecutive county-recognized Medical Assistant nominations. I was also the youngest and only exam-certified graduate in my class of 57 peers, scoring in the 99th percentile. Those experiences and credentials taught me that preparation matters because real patients depend on it.

“I saw capable students struggle not because they lacked potential, but because the resources around them were outdated, scattered, too expensive, and too generic.”

I later became an associate lecturer for the medical assistant program I graduated from, helping train 200+ future medical assistants in venipuncture, EKG placement, vitals, medical terminology, ICD coding, mass casualty incidents, and exam preparation. That is where the idea for MedNow became clear. I saw capable students struggle not because they lacked potential, but because the resources around them were outdated, scattered, too expensive, and too generic. I experienced this myself when I was studying for my NCCT. They needed something clearer, smarter, more affordable, and more up to date from someone who had recently taken the exam, completed the program, and taught the material.

That is why I built MedNow.

MedNow brings together the aspects of my life and upbringing that have always mattered most to me: healthcare, education, technology, and service. It is a modern study platform built to help future medical assistants prepare with real and applicable explanations, smarter practice questions, flashcards, clinical scenarios, and personalized review, all so they can become the next generation of medicine powered by tools those before them did not have.

I built MedNow because students deserve more than generic exam prep, just as patients deserve competency, professionalism, and skill. Future medical assistants deserve tools that help them feel confident, capable, and ready before they ever step foot into a clinic or interact with their first patient, mannequin or human alike.