“A 14 year-old boy denied of any chance of schooling and hope for a better life”

In 1975, having seen his son frustrated at not having any future for employment, Dr. Wang's father, an internist and the chief of medicine at the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of the Zhejiang Medical School, arranged to have his son "illegally" sit in on all of the basic science classes at the medical school. All the professors were Professor Wang's friends who sympathized with the youngster's difficult situation and were willing to have this young student "audit" their classes. However, when his "classmates" started their clinical rotation and it became obvious that he would not be allowed to participate in clinical patient care, Dr. Wang was asked to leave the medical school.

He rebelled against his father. "Dad, you wanted me to become a musician. I tried, but the government would allow me. You wanted me to become a doctor and asked me to study medicine. I listened to you but was denied any chance of staying in school. I have had enough!"

Dr. Wang's mother sympathized with her son and agreed that he should just find whatever job he could. He did, becoming a factory worker.

After having this job for just 14 days, and receiving his first paycheck of about $10, he was summoned again to his father's side and told: "My son, now I have something else that you should do. Chairman Mao just died and the Cultural Revolution will soon be over. The College Entrance Examination will be resumed after having being discontinued for 10 years. So son, you are to return to school".

"Back to 10th grade?” he was concerned. “ But I forgot everything! I have done everything, erhu, music, medicine, but study what I should be studying as a 15 year old".

"That's right,", said his father: "And furthermore, you should return to 12th grade, the graduating class right now. " How can I jump into the 12th grade, not having gone through 10th and 11th? You must be crazy, dad!"

"No, my son", the father said: "I am not crazy. The College Entrance Examination was stopped for 10 years, who is to say it will NOT be discontinued again next year for ANOTHER 10 years! You are to return to school now, to the GRADUATING class, and to take the College Entrance Exam within a few months."

So he diligently studied, attempting to complete all three years of high school in a few months and compete with everyone in that year's (1977) class. About 5% of the high school graduates could get into college. He successfully caught up with the graduating class in 2 months and participated in the exam. He thought that he did well enough to be in the top 5% that year and had a good Chinese New Year with his family in 1978.

Unfortunately, "No graduating students will be allowed to go to college this year, no matter how well they did in the College Entrance Examination", the government decreed. "Your older brothers and sisters, who did not have the chance to go to college and have been waiting for this exam for 10 years, should be given priority to go to college this year. This year's graduating class must stay home and wait for a year."

The dream of college began to fade until the the government made another decree that a few "outstanding" students in the graduating class could be allowed to go to college. In the Zhejiang Province of over 20,000 graduating students, the top four students could go. Proudly, he went to the "MIT of China", the Chinese University of Science and Technology (CUST) to study chemical physics.

After graduating from CUST, he traveled to the US to attend the graduate school in physical chemistry at University of Maryland and received his Ph.D. in laser physics in 1986. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship, and then medical school at Harvard, graduating magna cum laude in 1991. He did his ophthalmology residency at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, his clinical cornea and refractive surgery fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, and finally, became the Director of the Vanderbilt Laser Vision Center in Nashville, TN in 1997. In 2002, Ming founded his own laser vision center, Wang Vision Institute, in Nashville, TN.

So, the “straight A" student, high school "drop-out", dejected erhu player, frustrated composer, "boy who pretended to be a medical student", the "80 cents-a-day paper wrapper", finally he got his chance to study.

Dr. Wang said that he felt truly blessed for all these years in having these wonderful opportunities to study in China and in the States, to imagine, create, and become a doctor, a dream that he has had since he was a 14 year-old boy.