At 27, Mohammed Dany will be the youngest-ever graduate of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the 石榴视频黄色版. The average age for finishing that program is 32. It鈥檚 intense聽鈥� the students are earning both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees.

鈥淚鈥檝e always set very high ambitions for myself,鈥� Dany says. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 important if you want to be successful.鈥�

Successful, he definitely is. After graduation, he heads to Brigham and Women鈥檚 Hospital at Harvard Medical School for a year of internal medicine, then it鈥檚 on to the University of Pennsylvania for a highly competitive dermatology residency.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad I got the best of both worlds. The University of Pennsylvania has the strongest dermatology program in the country. I鈥檓 glad I鈥檒l be joining a department that has more than one expert in every field. They have a good history of training successful clinicians, physician scientists and leaders in the field.鈥�

Dany鈥檚 mentors say he鈥檒l be an asset wherever he goes, not just as a smart doctor with expertise in both dermatology and cancer research but also as a kind man.

, an associate professor in the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, had Dany as a student in a lipid and pathobiology class. 鈥淗e was not only the most active student and really brilliant聽鈥� he noticed that his abilities are ahead of his colleagues so he helped everyone understand. You can see the teamwork behavior was part of his natural behavior. He wasn鈥檛 faking it or doing it just for grade purposes.鈥�

She got to know him well outside the classroom as well and says he鈥檚 now like a son to her. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very approachable.鈥�

But he鈥檚 also clear on his priorities, Hammad says. 鈥淒any knows how to say no, and that鈥檚 what I like about him. You might think people can take advantage of him, but he knows what he鈥檚 doing. Because he鈥檚 brilliant, he is very time efficient. He gets it very fast and acts very fast and is done very fast. Not too many of those you meet in your lifetime.鈥�

, professor and SmartState endowed chair in lipodomics and drug discovery, had Dany in his lab for his Ph.D. thesis research at聽.

鈥淒any represents a true physician scientist who deeply cares about people and would do anything to help his patients using cross sections of clinical and basic research,鈥� Ogretmen says.

鈥淚n addition to being a bright physician scientist,聽Mohammed聽is a kind and compassionate person who makes friends with anyone without any hesitation. I feel very lucky to know and mentor聽Mohammed. I am confident that he will represent my group as well MUSC with great success in his future endeavors.鈥�

, a professor in MUSC鈥檚 Department of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery and president of the American Academy of Dermatology, agrees. "Mohammed has compiled an exemplary record at MUSC as both a researcher and a clinician. He has matched into one of the premier dermatology residency programs in the country. I have no doubt he will be a future leader in academic dermatology."

Dany does want to continue to do research as he practices medicine. 鈥淚 want to be a physician scientist in the setting of an academic institution. Hopefully in the long run I鈥檒l do some administration, maybe be a chair of a department or be involved in the dean鈥檚 office somehow and have some impact on the future of medical students or residents or Ph.D. students.

"That鈥檚 how I like to organize my time eventually. Clinic, research and administration, all three together.鈥�

Dany is a long way from where he grew up in Lebanon in the Middle East, the son of a science-loving mother and a father who has a Ph.D. in Arabic literature and runs a business. They raised him to treat others the way he鈥檇 like to be treated.

鈥淚 like to be greeted with a smile and have someone to be easy to talk to. That鈥檚 why I always behave this way. My father emphasized that. He鈥檚 a very popular figure in Tripoli and he鈥檚 popular because of how easy he is to talk to, even though he鈥檚 a very renowned, successful person there. Everyone can just knock on his door and talk to him.鈥�

Dany majored in biology at the American University of Beirut and started medical school. 鈥淒uring my first year, I switched career plans and decided to become a physician-scientist instead of a clinician only. This is when I started looking at M.D./Ph.D. programs in the United States.鈥�

The American University of Beirut has a partnership with MUSC, with a memorandum of understanding established in 2003 to bring some of Lebanon鈥檚 top medical students to South Carolina to train as physician-scientists. Dany applied and won a spot. It was a big change for him.

鈥淐harleston is a smaller city than Beirut. There are not as many people around. The first year I鈥檇 say was a little bit lonely. I did not know anyone here, I have no family here, but I made friends of different ages. I even have a friend of 80 years of age which I love so much and we鈥檙e still in touch. After the first year it felt like home.鈥�

Dany will leave MUSC with the Distinguished Graduate Award, which is the equivalent of valedictorian of the College of Graduate studies, and the President鈥檚 Clinical Science Award, which goes to medical students who shine not only academically but also in the way they interact with patients and colleagues.

He鈥檒l also take with him memories of a place he鈥檚 grown to love. 鈥淐harleston is still home. I鈥檓 going to miss this place a lot.鈥�