Dr Sankoorikal completed his medical degree at Bangalore University in 1998. Following his migration to Australia in 2001, he was awarded a Master of Medicine by the University of New South Wales in 2002. He held junior medical officer appointments at Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, and Gosford District Hospital before relocating to Newcastle in 2005 to join the Hunter New England Basic Physician Training Network. He completed basic physician training in 2007, followed by advanced training in General Medicine and Endocrinology at John Hunter Hospital, and was admitted to the Royal Australasian College of Physicians as an Endocrinologist in 2010.

Dr Sankoorikal is a Staff Specialist with the Faculty of Endocrinology at John Hunter Hospital. Teaching and supervision are a central part of this appointment: he trains and mentors basic physician trainees and advanced trainees in endocrinology, supervising them in both inpatient and outpatient settings, and contributes to their formal education and assessment as they progress toward Fellowship. Many of the region's practising physicians and endocrinologists have trained under his supervision.

In 2014 Dr Sankoorikal established the Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic, which now operates from purpose-built premises at Kotara Specialist Suites. His principal clinical interests are diabetes mellitus — type 1, type 2 and gestational — together with osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.

Dr Sankoorikal is a member of the Australian Diabetes Society, the Endocrine Society of Australia, the Endocrine Society (USA), and the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society. He attends national and international scientific meetings regularly, delivers educational sessions and seminars for general practitioners and allied health clinicians across the Hunter, and maintains an active involvement in clinical research.