What’s something you did in your youth that you advise others NOT do?

Leslie Ordal, CGC, University of Toronto

Taking up horseback riding. Expensive, dangerous, and impossible to stop!

Mariah Robertson, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

My mom used to take the middle seat out of our minivan and we would go on long road trips without seatbelts , playing and sleeping and rolling around on the floor of the van . . . now I’m a parent and worry when I don’t put the 5-point harness on my kids correctly.

Shannon Scott-Vernaglia, MD, MassGeneral

One that seems astonishing to me now as a pediatrician is biking without a helmet.

Sam Kant, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Don’t be mono-maniacally focused only on academics. Branch out and do other things – art, sports, drama. These will help you so much down the road.

It’s now being shown that there is a connection between artistic/creative pursuits and academic achievements. Nobel Prize winning scientists are 2.85 times more likely than the average scientist to have an artistic hobby.

Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

“Put ouzo on wounds!”  My mother and grandfather felt that this liquor would help with the pain.

Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

I reluctantly say this – there was definitely a peer effect: throw snowballs at trucks with open windows.

William Greenough, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Do not underrate your abilities no matter who may put you down!