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Pre-teen medical student 'always wanted to help people'
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- In the early 1990s, the TV show "Doogie Howser, M.D." centered around a child prodigy-turned teenage doctor. Life imitated art this summer, as 12-year-old Sho Yano graduated from Loyola University and became the youngest student ever accepted by the University of Chicago Medical School. Yano spoke Monday with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. COOPER: I know you probably should be studying, so we appreciate you taking a couple of minutes away from your studies. Why did you want to go to medical school? YANO: Medical school -- I was always interested in science and medicine. And I also always wanted to help people. And medicine and science and being a doctor seemed like the perfect combination. And so with this -- this is an M.D. Ph.D. program, so I can also do research in science. COOPER: I know, you're really slacking off. You're getting your M.D. and your Ph.D. But you know, it's pretty amazing. I understand your mom still drive drives you to school every day. She packs a brown bag lunch for you. How did the other young people in medical school look at you? I mean, what did they think when you first showed up the first day? YANO: I don't know, honestly. I'll have to ask them about it. But ... COOPER: Do you hang out with them? Do you have friends among your fellow students? YANO: Oh, yes. There are only ten of us. So we went on retreats together. We go to dinner with the [Medical Science Training Program] director. And so we're a very tight group. And all of my classmates are very polite, and they're very good people. COOPER: Well, that's good to hear. What courses are you taking this summer? YANO: Right now we're taking anatomy and histology. COOPER: I could pretend I know what histology is, but I think I would trip myself up. YANO: Histology is studying cells and tissues on a microscopic level. COOPER: OK. Now I also understand -- is it true that you've been dissecting human cadavers this summer? YANO: Yes, we have. COOPER: What is that like? YANO: At first, I think, it was a strange experience for all of us. But we have gotten accustomed to it. And we're almost having fun every day. And I think we are. COOPER: I guess there was some concern about your ability to sort of deal with patients when you graduate medical school. But because you're going for the Ph.D., you're actually going to be about 19 or 20 when you're actually interacting with patients. Is that right? Do you have any worries about it? YANO: Yes. No, and people have been telling me, joking with me: "Grow a beard and a mustache as soon as you can to look older."
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