Georgia Campus of PCOM in Suwanee Graduates One of the Youngest Doctors in U.S. History

Serennah Harding, age 22, will graduate on May 19, 2013, from Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA – PCOM) in Suwanee, as one of the youngest medical school graduates in U.S. history. She also will be pinning on the rank of lieutenant as a Navy resident doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Harding is one of 10 children and one of six that entered college at age 12, after being homeschooled by their mother, Mona Lisa Harding.

“Ever since I was 12, I wanted to be a doctor,” she said. ”Growing up, I had a lot of different ideas, but after seeing how doctors interacted with my family after one of my brothers needed several major operations, I was inspired and wanted to be a part of that.”

While other teens were worrying about Facebook and their appearance, Harding was preparing to enter college at the age of 12. She spent two years at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Calif., and another two years at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., where her family lives. Following college, she took graduate courses in biomedical sciences  at GA-PCOM for a year, followed by four years at the Suwanee campus. Serennah will pursue her residency in internal medicine at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

“If you take any young person and give them the ingredients for success, they will be successful,” she said. “Having dreams and a supportive family and mentors – those who can guide you as to what is required as you go along – will also help toward accomplishing your goals.”

GA – PCOM will graduate 81 doctors of osteopathic medicine this year, who will go on to pursue residencies in a host of specialties. The college will also award 37 master’s degrees in biomedical sciences and six master’s degrees in organizational development and leadership (ODL). This is the first graduating class for the ODL program, which opened in 2011. The campus, established in 2005, also offers a four-year doctor of pharmacy degree, which will graduate its first class in 2014.

Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine is a private, not-for-profit branch campus of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, an osteopathic medical school built on an over one-hundred-year tradition of educational excellence. GA-PCOM offers the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree, the doctor of pharmacy degree, a master’s degree in biomedical science and a master’s degree in organizational development and leadership.

For more information, visit pcom.edu.