12-year-old begins medical school

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12-year-old begins medical school

Monday, August 25, 2003 Posted: 2:25 PM EDT (1825 GMT)

Sho Yano, a 12-year-old medical student at the University of Chicago,

studies for an anatomy test in his room near the university campus.

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CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Sho Yano's mother hands him his lunch for school in a

brown paper bag -- a turkey sandwich and cookies included.

" You don't need any bones today? No bones? " Kyung Yano asks her quiet,

spectacle-wearing 12-year-old, who shakes his head " no " as they head out their

apartment door. She wants to make sure he isn't supposed to take his samples of

spinal bones and a human skull to class, where he's learning about human

anatomy.

It's the kind of morning many young students and their parents experience --

except for one thing. Sho isn't in junior high. He's a first-year medical school

student at the University of Chicago, where he's the youngest ever to attend one

of the university's professional schools.

If he weren't also getting his Ph.D. along with his medical degree -- thus,

pushing his age at graduation to 19 or 20 -- he'd also be on course to become

the youngest person to graduate from any medical school. According to Guinness

World Records, a 17-year-old graduated from medical school in New York in 1995.

But Sho is utterly uninterested in setting records. He also shuns the labels

often used to describe him -- " prodigy " and " little genius " among them.

Yes, he has an IQ over 200. And yes, he graduated in three years from Chicago's

Loyola University, summa cum laude. But for him, going to school is about

learning as much as he can.

" And there's a lot of stuff to know, " he says, as he thumbs through one of his

extra-thick medical books.

While many kids his age have been spending their summers at camp or the beach,

Sho has been dissecting a human cadaver and learning the intricacies of the 12

cranial nerves. And so far, having scored A's on his first few quizzes, he's

handling the course work better than some who are a decade or more older than

him.

'Very keen and observant'

Some of his classmates were wary at first. That included Luka Pocivavsek, a

22-year-old medical student who shared a room with his young classmate at a

retreat for new students in the M.D./Ph.D. program.

Sho Yano plays with his little sister Sayuri, 7, in their apartment near

the University of Chicago campus.

At first, he thought Sho -- who often pauses to ponder questions before

answering and chooses his words carefully -- was very quiet. He wondered how

such a young student could handle the emotional and social rigors of being a

doctor.

But Sho quickly won him over.

" He has surpassed my expectations in every imaginable way, " Pocivavsek says.

" His initial shyness has given way to a very sociable guy. And his understanding

of complex social and political issues is very keen and observant. "

In some ways, Sho is still a typical 12-year old. He has a pet rabbit and

sometimes squabbles with his little sister, Sayuri. And while he's not a fan of

Harry Potter, he adores books by best-selling children's author Jacques.

At school, he's more of the little brother figure. His classmates tease him, for

instance, about finding a girlfriend. But they also go out of their way to

include him, often socializing in their homes instead of bars -- or choosing

movies to watch that are rated no higher than PG.

The medical school also has adjusted Sho's schedule a bit, delaying his clinical

work with patients for his last two years in the program.

Still, pathology professor Tony Montag says he sometimes forgets that Sho is

younger than his classmates.

" Of course, to me, they're all kids. So he doesn't seem particularly different

than any of the students, " says Montag, who teaches Sho and other first-year

students about microscopic tissues in their histology class.

Making decisions

Born in Portland, Oregon, Sho spent most of his early years in California, where

his father, Katsura, now runs the American subsidiary of a Japanese shipping

company. Sho lives in the university's family housing with his mother, who

originally came to this country from Korea to study art history, and 7-year-old

Sayuri, a talented student in her own right who wants to be a cardiologist.

From early on, his mom says it was apparent that Sho was gifted.

His mother recalls trying to master a waltz by Chopin on the piano while

3-year-old Sho played with toy trains below her. Frustrated, she went to the

kitchen to take a break -- and a few moments later, hurried back in amazement as

she heard Sho playing the piece.

By age 4, he was composing. And by age 7, he was doing high school work --

taught by his parents because they couldn't find a school that could accommodate

him.

By age 8, he scored a 1,500 out of 1,600 possible points on the SAT and started

college at age 9.

Yano is getting his Ph.D. along with his medical degree.

The response from the public -- and some of his undergraduate classmates -- has

not always been positive. Recently, Sho did an Internet search of his name and

was surprised to find many people commenting about his life in blogs (or Web

logs).

" One person said, 'Look at this miserable child with a pushy mother, " ' Sho says.

" Another said, 'Look at this miracle of God with his supportive parents. " '

Sho smiles at the notion that his parents have pushed him. " Sometimes, I kind of

pull them along, " he says.

His mom Kyung says it's difficult to explain what having a child like Sho has

been like. But she and her husband were always clear: " He will decide his own

life, what he wants to do, " she says.

They let him choose the University of Chicago even though it meant Sho's father

would have to live apart from them because of his job.

His mom also lets him decide which media interviews he accepts. A few months

back, he turned down a request from talk show host Oprah Winfrey. He told his

mom he wants he do something " bigger " before being on TV -- like becoming a

researcher and professor.

In the end, he says he chose medicine because he wants to help people.

" I wish I could find a big step, " he says, his eyes widening slightly, " like a

treatment for cancer. "