The youngest member of the University of Manitobas newest cohort of medical students is just 19 years old.

The fresh-faced teenager shrugged on his first white coat Wednesday as part of the universitys annual white-coat ceremony, a symbolic start to medical school where some of the provinces big-name health officials applaud their future colleagues.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Henry Li, 19, is one of the 110 students of the Class of 2021 that were formally cloaked in their first white coats at the Max Rady College of Medicine.

In four years, Henry Li will get to add the letters M.D. to his name. Hell be 23 and a doctor.

But standing in the foyer of the Max Rady College of Medicine surrounded by more than 100 of his classmates, Li isnt quite ready to jump that far forward yet. He also isnt quite ready to pin down what kind of doctor he wants to be.

"Theres a lot of time. Im keeping an open mind and well see what happens," he said.

Medicine is a Li family affair.

Lis father Mingyi Li was a family physician in China, while his brother Junli Li is a fourth-year medical resident at the University of Manitoba who wants to specialize in radiology.

But despite sharing their passion for medicine, Li said he never felt "gosh, I need to be a doctor."

"It was kind of a gradual decision. Its always been something in the back of my mind, and I think as I matured it became more and more something that I wanted to do, something I committed to do," he said.

The appeal is in the multidimensional nature of the work.

"You can carry out research, you can teach and, of course, the clinical aspect," Li said. "I think this is something unique to the field of medicine and to the role of a physician you can do all of these things and you arent restricted."

Traditionally, medical students are at least 22 or older, having finished an undergraduate degree first.

Li skipped first grade and then doubled up on advanced placement courses in high school that would count for university credit. He graduated from Richmond Collegiate in 2015 and finished a University of Manitoba science degree focusing on microbiology and biology in just two years.

Now, Li is one of 110 students who will make up the universitys class of 2021. His group is the second since the U of M began making a concerted effort to make sure the future physicians it's training are ethnically and socio-economically diverse.

Li is part of the 95 per cent of this years class that are Manitoban. The majority of the group are women, with a third having some form of rural connection, and nearly a dozen self-declaring Indigenous ancestry.

Watching them all put on their white coats and reciting the physicians Hippocratic Oath was motivating, Li said.

"Its really awe inspiring seeing all these people that have committed themselves and dedicated themselves to this long path of learning and serving others."

For at least one of his classmates, the decision to become a doctor has less to do with medicine and more to do with community.

Justin Feilberg wants to work as a family doctor in rural Manitoba, a position almost always in high demand.

"I think the best way to get physicians practising in rural communities is to get students from those rural communities into the medical profession," said the 33-year-old married father of one. Committing to practising medicine in a rural area when you're originally from a more urban centre can be "daunting," he said, but not for him. Feilberg, who lives in Steinbach and plans to commute daily, was raised in East Braintree near the Ontario border.

"Access to medicine can be a very difficult challenge for some people, and I feel it would be a great way for me to help give back to the communities that helped shape me and made me who I am," he said.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca

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Medicine a family affair for young future physician - Winnipeg Free Press