The study in question -- outcomes for new vs. "refurbished" pacemakers and defibrillators -- sounds like a useful question. Plus, it sounds like he did a bunch

The study in question -- outcomes for new vs. "refurbished" pacemakers and defibrillators -- sounds like a useful question. Plus, it sounds like he did a bunch of manual work matching each refurbished device use case to similar new device use cases. So kudos to him for sure. But it's worth noting that "[h]e was aided by his father, MHI [Montreal Heart Institute] cardiologist Dr. Paul Khairy", which helps explain why he could start rotating through groups there when he was 12. That's not to diminish his accomplishment. It's not like the NEJM accepted the paper because it's a cute story. It's more like he had a great opportunity and took advantage of it.