21-year-old to become youngest M.D. in school’s history


A 21-year-old Chicago man who began college at age 9 and medical school three years later is about to become the youngest student ever awarded an M.D. by the University of Chicago, the Associated Press reports. Sho Yano, who was reading at age 2, writing at 3 and composing music at 5, will graduate this week from the Pritzker School of Medicine, where he also received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and cell biology.

“I never understood that,” Yano said. “Why would being allowed to challenge yourself be considered more damaging that being totally bored?”

The University of Chicago admitted Yano in 2003.

“I remember interviewing him … this nice, polite, 11-year-old boy, dressed in a little suit,” said Dr. Joel Scwab, a professor of pediatrics who was on the admissions committee. “He was never going to be among typical 11-year-olds, where his mother would drive him to Little League. He was going to be a doctor.”

The school made some accommodations because of Yano’s age. Unlike most students, who begin their Ph.D. training after their second year of medical school, Yano began his after his first year…

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