Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog

I think that this should be illegal... If you want my reason why, it's not enough myelin in the brain.
 

I was 24 when I graduated med schoo. At the time, the average age of 1st year med students was 27.

I would not have wanted a 21 year old intern (or a 22 year old resident) then and I don't want one now.

What's the big hurry anyway?
 

One of my classmates, many years ago, was a 16 year old who carried a double load at Duke University and graduated before her 18th birthday. She was one of the brightest people I've ever met. She never did anything halfway and she did all of it with excellence.

She had difficulty finding a medical school that would take her at 18. They kept telling her to get a PhD and apply later. She declined and was accepted to UNC-CH medical school. I ran into her again when I transferred to the UNC-CH nursing program. It was the first time in her life that she hadn't been permitted to accelerate an educational program. She was having the time of her life. She loved medical school.

I lost touch with her, but I'd be surprised if she was different as a physician than she was in everything else she did. I don't think that very many 16-18 year olds are ready for medical school, but there must have been something exceptional about these 3 for them to all have been accepted to the same school.
 

"What's the big hurry anyway?"

You want to start making a living before you send your kids to college and need nursing home care for yourself.
 

Smarts, ambition and hard work are great but not really a substitute for the wisdom that's gained with maturity and life experience.

I personally would not want one of these whippersnappers in charge of my care. Consult, yes, but not calling all the shots.
 

So why did they go to a D.O. school of medicine? Is it possible they were not accepted at an M.D. school?
 

You guys aint seen nothing yet.

At the University of Chicago, there is a freaking 12 year old medical student!

Google his name, I think its Sho or something liek that.

He's in an MD/PhD program which generally takes 7-8 years to complete so that will delay his graduation some.

the MD/PhD program director is something of a child savant who alos finished med school very early.

Rumor has it that UChicago was the only med school in the nation that accepted him.

Sounds to me lie the admissions director at UC is trying to make a social statement.
 

Well, I wouldn't be calling anyone who has completed 4 years of college and 4 years of medical school a wippersnapper. I bet you these three will be great drs.

Also, they most likely are very grown up for their ages, or you guys in med school would have eaten them up and sent them home cryin.
 

by the time i graduate med school i will be 22. i am 17 and a college junior right now.

Only when you meet me in person will you realize that I am just as capable as being a successful physician as my med-school bound friends (many of whom are also juniors). Experience only makes a difference in how doctors relate to their patients. In every other respect, I think that younger student, like myself, just have the academic talent to excel and many people fail to see our potential as doctors and clinical researchers.
 

By the way, the United States and Canada are the ONLY two countries in the world that do graduate medical degrees. The rest of the world does undergraduate medical degrees (averaging 4-8 years in length). So in Japan, say, the average age to complete medical school is 22. In Great Britain it's 23 or 24.