Article > Prodigy earns University of Chicago medical degree at 21

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Wow!

Prodigy earns University of Chicago medical degree at 21

By Ron Recinto | The Lookout – 6 hrs ago

Sho Yano can now add a historic academic claim to his long list of accomplishments.

At 21, Yano is the youngest student to earn a medical degree from the University of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reports.

That feat should come as no surprise to those familiar with his story.

Yano was reading at age 2, writing by 3 and composing music by his fifth birthday, according the Tribune story. He entered Loyola University in Chicago at age 9 and graduated summa cum laude in three years.

At age 12, he enrolled in the University of Chicago’s prestigious Pritzker School of Medicine, where students earn both a Ph.D. and a medical degree, according to the Tribune.

“I came to college to study, not to hang out or date,” he said in 2000 when he entered Loyola, WLS-TV in Chicago reported. Yano told the television station that he did face some discrimination for being a very young university student.

“I ran into things like people shouting ‘go back to elementary school’ on campus,” Yano told WLS-TV.

The Tribune story also pointed out that several medical schools passed on him because of maturity questions. On campus, he was a target for wisecracks, the Tribune reported, with some classmates questioning whether his mother was pushing him into college too early.

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

The newspaper called Pritzker’s decision to admit Yano a success, also revealing that he hopes his graduation quiets those who said he’d be stunted socially and emotionally for daring to tackle an accelerated track.

He’s also inspired his sister, Sayuri. At 15, she is at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore studying violin performance, the newspaper reported.

Sho Yano’s next challenge is an upcoming residency in pediatric neurology, which is expected to take five years, according to the Tribune.

But with Sho Yano, you never know. He could finish sooner than that.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/prodigy-earns-university-chicago-medical-degree-21-144127049.html

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Awesome! good for both of them! Nice to know progress of early readers and writers.

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Thank you for posting. What an inspiring story!

I can’t believe his colleagues literally told him to go back to elementary school - IMO, those students should have never been admitted to the university in the first place because it demonstrates that they cannot treat another with respect, that they hurl derision towards those that pursue excellence in education (which would be counter-culture to the whole premise of the university), and frankly it’s declasse and reflects poorly on their own abilities, aspirations, and outlook on life.

I wish we could get some question and answer with the parents; I’d love to hear some of their methods.

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Here is some information about him:

Sho Yano is an Asian-American child prodigy with an estimated IQ of 200. His father is from Japan and his mother from South Korea. Yano was reading at two, writing at three, playing piano at four, and composing at five. Yano graduated summa cum laude from Loyola University Chicago when he was 12 and earned a PhD from the University of Chicago in molecular genetics and cell biology when he was 18, the youngest ever to earn a PhD there. He is currently in medical school working on an MD. Yano’s mom decided to homeschool her son after realizing how much more advanced he was than the other students at his school and how much more seriously he took his academic work. Mrs. Yano has written several books in Korean on homeschooling and homeschools Sho’s little sister, Sayuri, an academic and musical prodigy in her own right. Sayuri recently finished her bachelors degree in biology at Roosevelt University. She’s 13.

http://www.alabamahomeschooling.com/2011/01/homeschooler-sho-yano.html