Name some medical school dropouts who went on to accomplish great things

April 22, 2008 3:11 PM

I am trying to compile a list of medical school dropouts who later went on to do great things in other fields. The term "med school" here is used loosely to allow some flexibility. So anyone who abandoned his medical training and accomplished something notable in some other field would work. So far I've found five persons. I've listed them below to show what I am looking for. I hope to find five more to fill out a Top Ten list.

Gertrude Stein -- attended and dropped out of Johns Hopkins.
Lu Xun -- Chinese writer who abandoned his medical studies to pursue his literary career.
Che Guevara
Prof Robert Solomon -- quit med school to become a professor of philosophy. He wrote many books on existentialism.
Roald Amundsen -- quit medical studies to become an arctic explorer. The first man to captain a ship through the Northwest Passage.

I'm especially interested in contemporary figures like Prof Solomon. Bonus points if he/she did something unusual or crazy.

posted by Pantalaimon to education (23 comments total)

GOOGLE RON PAUL
posted by dersins at 3:15 PM on April 22, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

James Joyce comes to mind. Also, wasn't Darwin a med-school drop-out?
posted by kickingtheground at 3:15 PM on April 22, 2008

John Keats
posted by that possible maker of pork sausages at 3:26 PM on April 22, 2008

Successful (and awesome) romance novelist Julia Quinn.
posted by posadnitsa at 3:27 PM on April 22, 2008

William S Burroughs
posted by kuujjuarapik at 3:28 PM on April 22, 2008

the great Walker Percy
posted by 1 at 3:29 PM on April 22, 2008

Just as clarification: what if someone was an MD and then went on to do other things...like Howard Dean.
posted by OmieWise at 3:33 PM on April 22, 2008

According to Wikipedia, Dr. Ron Paul completed medical school.
posted by Dec One at 4:25 PM on April 22, 2008

Michael Crichton
David Wolf, if I'm not mistaken (read Dragonfly)
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:26 PM on April 22, 2008

Hector Berlioz.
posted by jayder at 4:30 PM on April 22, 2008

Andre Breton - created Surrealism
Gertrude Stein
posted by suedehead at 5:06 PM on April 22, 2008

Whoops, missed your example. Both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Carlos Williams were doctors who are more well-known for their literary work, but they didn't drop out.. does this count?

Oh, and also: Charles Darwin -- "he went to the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, to study medicine, but he was revolted by the brutality of surgery and neglected his medical studies..."
posted by suedehead at 5:10 PM on April 22, 2008

Roald Amundsen
posted by ch1x0r at 5:15 PM on April 22, 2008

That is what I get for skimming.
posted by ch1x0r at 5:15 PM on April 22, 2008

Somerset Maugham
Francois Rabelais, though he came back to teach medicine in later life
Chekhov never really gave up doctoring, so scratch him
Ayman al-Zawahiri

That's about it, off hand. I'm sure there are others.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:38 PM on April 22, 2008

So anyone who abandoned his medical training and accomplished something notable in some other field would work.

Would abandoning their training immediately following graduation count? Graham Chapman, of Monty Python fame, finished medical school, but never actually practiced medicine. He did play a doctor in a few of his sketches, but I don't think that counts.
posted by I Said, I've Got A Big Stick at 5:45 PM on April 22, 2008

Does failing out count? If so, then the French Impressionist Frédéric Bazille. According to the article, he failed his medical exam, became a full-time painter, and was killed in the Franco-Prussian War at age 29. Tragic.
posted by natalie b at 7:00 PM on April 22, 2008

David Duchovny!
posted by thebrokenmuse at 8:09 PM on April 22, 2008

Thanks for the great answers, guys.
posted by Pantalaimon at 10:59 PM on April 22, 2008

Osamu Tezuka completed his education, but never became a practicing doctor.
posted by kosher_jenny at 3:45 AM on April 23, 2008

Orkadian John Rae did get his medical qualifications but he is best known for his Arctic exploration. Despite contemporary accounts to the contrary it appears that he was the guy who discovered the North West Passage.
posted by rongorongo at 4:45 AM on April 23, 2008

I am fairly certain that Walker Percy graduated from Columbia Medical School. I know I'm skating on thin ice by citing wikipedia for support, but I don't have time now to do further research.
posted by pasici at 7:16 AM on April 23, 2008

Harry Hill
posted by you're only jung once at 3:42 AM on April 25, 2008