It’s easy to get into, highly social, inexpensive, and a great workout—so, nothing like medical school. Is that why Warren Alpert medical students are taking up pickleball?

“When I’m playing, all I think about is pickleball, and all of my stresses dissipate,” Alice Lim MD’28 says. Plus, “it’s a nice way to meet people outside of medicine.”

Lim says about 60 students have signed up for the Medical School’s pickleball club, Code Dink, which she co-leads with Tano Nguyen MD’28 ScM’28, Nina Li ’24 MD’28, and Rishubh Jain ’22 MD’26.

The game is sort of a cross between ping-pong, tennis, and badminton, so “it’s very easy to get into,” says Li, who just started playing last August. “In the beginning of the school year, also, it was a nice way to get to know each other.”

Though pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the US, the Northeast lags behind the rest of the country; in North Carolina, where Nguyen is from, free courts abound. “The goal of the club is to provide opportunities for students to play, because we don’t have a pickleball court at Brown, and pickleball is not free elsewhere,” he says.

The club uses activities funds to play at a Warwick pickleball facility, and has booked time at Brown’s gym—where they improvise courts with tape and borrowed nets. “It’s not the best option, but it’s what we can make do with,” Nguyen says.

What in a Name?

“Code,” of course, is a medical emergency requiring an immediate response; “Dink” refers to a controlled pickleball shot, usually near the net, that can be tricky for an opponent to return.

Casual Courtship

You don’t need a partner to play pickleball—with open plays, you can just show up. “So you can meet people that way, or connect with classmates,” Nguyen says.

Modern Family

Li and her brother got their parents into pickleball. “We have very few bonding activities,” she says. “This was one they could pick up very easily.”

Preventative Medicine

Pickleball injuries have surged alongside its popularity. While players skew older, Lim has had her own share of injuries. “It’s encouraged me and all of my friends to stretch more,” she says.

Net Positive

Though Lim plays tennis, she admits to feeling “intimidated” by those players. “But with pickleball, everyone’s incredibly welcoming,” she says, no matter your age or skill level.