Medical prodigy performs surgery at 7
TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014 10:21 AM

Akrit Jaswal gained international fame after a video of him performing surgery on a burn victim hit YouTube. What's so special about a person doing surgery? Well, Akrit was only 7 years old at the time, and he completed the procedure successfully. The young boy from India did not have a medical degree, but he was considered a prodigy in his town, and for good reason. Akrit has an IQ score of 146, putting him above the the minimum 140 requirement to be considered a genius. 

The rise of a boy doctor
After the video became famous, Akrit appeared on talk shows all over the world, and he even got to sit down with Oprah. Akrit is from a small village in India. His parents knew he was intelligent from an early age. 

"He learned very fast," Raksha, Akrit's mother, told Oprah. "After learning the alphabet, we started to teach him joining of words, and he started writing as well. He was 2."

Akrit began attending school at the age of 5 and started teaching English and math classes a year later. When most children were learning to spell their names, Akrit was reading classic literature. While in school, the young boy became interested in medicine and anatomy, reading books on the subject at home. Local doctors learned of Akrit's interests and allowed him to observe surgeries when he was 6 years old. 

When Akrit was 7 years old, a girl in his town burned her hands badly. The injury fused her fingers together, a condition that could be corrected with surgery. However, the girl's family didn't have much money to pay for the procedure. They knew about Akrit's medical prowess and asked if he could perform the surgery, rather than the doctors, for free. The boy and doctors obliged and Akrit successfully separated her burned fingers. The video of the surgery then launched the boy surgeon (as he became known) into fame.

Akrit's continued education
Akrit started attending a medical university when he was 12 years old. By the age of 13, he was considered the smartest person in India his age. His IQ score of 146 only supported that popular view. Akrit decided at 13 years old that he wanted to find a cure for cancer. Now, at the age of 17, Akrit is getting his master's degree in applied chemistry, bringing him one step closer to his dream.