What to get a 12 year old who wants to be a Doctor?

My brother's 12th birthday is coming up and he wants to be a doctor. So, I'd like to get him something inspirational, motivational, practical, etc.

Any suggestions on what I can get him? Is there a particular book that covers all of the above and isn't too high above his age-range? Any duder doctors out there that have something special they remember helped them along the way?

Black market kidney's

Trauma Center: Second Opinion.

Stethoscope?

Set of scalpels?

I honestly have no idea...

Special Edition Blu Ray of Patch Adams, best gift of all...

Adult magazines.

Plenty of useful anatomy lessons in there.

The first season of Scrubs on DVD.

And Operation.

Give him a printout of the Affordable Care Act.

Surgeon Simulator 2013.

Antidepressants

Joking aside, at his age there's not much I can seriously recommend. While he's thinking about being a Doctor now he'll probably consider Engineering once he's in High School. Doctor just happens to be the more popular form of "Smart guy that helps people job" for kids that age. At least that's how it was for me, didn't even know what an engineer did until I was a junior in High School but once I did it was a super appealing alternative.

A skeleton. All good doctors have a skeleton in their office. I would like a skeleton and I am not even a doctor. It doesn't even have to be a real skeleton.

Start some sort of college fund he can add to himself.

Let's say that becomes the case. What would help out a budding engineer? Also what kind of engineer are you (if you don't mind my asking)?

@yummylee: came in here just to say, er post, that.

A nice hardcover Gray's Anatomy

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/barnes-noble-leatherbound-classics-grays-anatomy-henry-gray/1106658802?ean=9781435114937

There's that Doogie Howser show everyone talks about like it's a thing but has never actually been on television so I'm not 100% sure it's a real thing, where that one dude is a kid is a doctor.

Fun and educational! I actually do support this suggestion.

A nice hardcover Gray's Anatomy

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/barnes-noble-leatherbound-classics-grays-anatomy-henry-gray/1106658802?ean=9781435114937

Also, guess what happens when you try to google "Gray's Anatomy". Ugh.

That sounds like a good choice to me.

@aegon: I'm an engineer (mechanical/biomedical). If you want to get a really good engineering toy get him anything from Lego Mindstorms. It'll introduce him to building robots and programming, the programming is especially useful for any engineer and he'll be miles ahead of his peers if he starts now.

For a doctor gift, I'd get him a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff. It's cool listening to blood flowing and the moment it stops at high pressure (this is the systolic pressure). A cool way to learn an aspect of how the body works.

Yeah the Gray's Anatomy idea sounds good, maybe write an inspirational birthday message on the inside?

A god damn video game or something dude. He's 12 he ain't gonna appreciate shit. Also, he's 12. He's probably going to change his mind about what he wants to do like 50 times in the next few years. Plus get him a fun gift, don't get him an "aunt" or "grandma" type gift.

Be the cool brother. Not the one that adds pressure to be a doctor and stresses the poor guy out, He's 12, let him be 12.

A blue box.

@aegon: No worries, I'm a Computer/Electrical Engineer. The nice thing about engineering is that your skillset becomes so damn diverse. Here is a page to give you an example of what I'm talking about. With just ECE there is that many options, and there's quite a few different ways he could go for something more specialized. I'd go with RollingZepplin's suggestion and say whatever stuff you can get him into that involves building. Putting something together that can be shown off is probably a pretty dope feeling at his age.

Man, the Lego Mindstorm kits look like they'd be cool gifts, but they're crazy expensive ($400 CAD). I think $100 is my limit.

@aegon: Hey duder, I'm a surgeon and after many years of school and training I don't have a good answer for you. Nothing in particular set me down this path besides doing well in school. The Gray's Anatomy book is a cool idea if he decides to stick with medicine and wants something sentimental to look back on (although if you want a book he might actually use someday, I'd go with the much more expensive Netter Anatomy). Honestly, I'd consider something outdoorsy if he goes for that kind of stuff because he may potentially spend the next 18 years of his life inside studying/working.

Or just scream at him "DON'T DO IT!!!!!!" A lot of my colleagues would consider that the greatest gift you could give an aspiring physician. I realize that makes this post a total downer, but reality bites.

Morphine.

A camera.

Are there really that many physicians that regret it?

Oh snap, I didn't realise they were that pricey. Nevermind then ha ha.

Doogie Howser, M.D. DVD BoxSet

Came here to post this

@aegon: Unfortunately, yes. Litigation in the medical field has become so ridiculous that the average physician spends more time writing notes than interacting with patients and this has created a lot of jaded doctors.That's not to say it's all bad, there are plenty of people who love the job and it's a fantastic feeling to give someone a better life. It's just a bummer to have to rush out of patients' rooms because you've got like 10 other patients to see and you're already an hour behind because the first one had so many problems. But I digress!

@clonedzero: this dude knows whats up, i wanted to be a doctor when i was a kid, and i can tell you right now that i am not a doctor.

@aegon: from what I've heard, yes. Brutal school work, buried in massive loans, brutal working hours and schedule, exhausted all the time. And that's after you completely kickass as an undergrad and are able to even get into a med school.

MBAs and lawyers all working hard to wreck health care and so far they're doing a bangup job of it here in the USA.

House M.D.

Doogie Howser box set

A geist membership.

it'll get him places noone else can take him...

A knife

@takayamasama said:

Goddammit, I came here to post that!

Just don't get clever with the birthday cake and replace the candles with scalpels.
Just... just trust me on that one, it can go really wrong.

You can buy him a bond that matures when he's ready to start college.

A 12-year-old girl.

Porn. He'll learn more about the human anatomy while satisfying his teenage desires. Two birds with one stone!

Nah just kidding. I don't really know what I'd reccomend. Gray's Anatomy might not be a bad choice but he's 12 sooo Doogie Howser?

I'm taking bio-medical right now, so I would say a book on basic Anatomy and how the body systems work.

Another career path.

Open up a savings account for that kid.

How about DK books on biology? I'm assuming you meant he want to be a M.D., so maybe ask him what specialization? I'm not a doctor, but I always thought if I were to be one, I'd want to study marine biology because it just fascinates me. If you were going to get him something along that route, might I suggest buying him Jacques Cousteau books. They are possibly the best reading material on marine life and they have lots of photos. Another good idea would maybe to bring him to a museum or look into hospital volunteer opportunities.

If any of this interests you, here's a related link:

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - Virtual Tour

Perhaps send him to the site as well in addition to whatever you wind up doing, it's a pretty cool site.