http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/article/20522.html
May 21, 2009 Anita Rachman 18-Year-Old UGM Graduate on Her Way To Becoming Country's Youngest Doctor Becoming a doctor has always been Riana Helmi's dream, but she never imagined that in achieving this she would also be on her way to setting a record as the youngest doctor in the country's history. On Tuesday, at just 18, Riana became the youngest medical graduate ever produced by any Indonesian school when she obtained her degree from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University (UGM). Riana also graduated cum laude, with a grade-point average of 3.67. After an additional two years as an intern, she will begin her practice as a medical doctor. The youngest age for any practicing medical doctor in the country's history is 24. 'I am just like other students; I don't spend all my time studying' Riana Helmi, 18, who graduated from UGM's School of Medicine on Tuesday "Age is not an issue for me," she told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday. "I've already worked with many patients." Born in Aceh on March 22, 1991, Riana enrolled in elementary school two years early at the age of 4. Her rapid academic ascent continued through primary and secondary schools, and she took accelerated classes at a state junior high school and later a state senior high school in Sukabumi, West Java. "I finished junior high and senior high in four years. Then I continued to UGM, when I was just 14," she said. She was also the medical school's youngest student when she got accepted in August 2005. Riana said she had never had difficulties fitting in with her older counterparts. "Most of my friends are about four or five years older than me, but I get along with them well. No problems at all," she said, adding that tremendous support from her parents, Helmi and Rofi'ah, had helped her manage academic life. "I am just like other students; I don't spend all my time studying," she said. She said her goal now was to focus on her clinical internship and finish it on
