By Dr. Joseph Hart
(Editor’s Note: This is the fifth story in the series about “The Merit Badge That Changed My Life.” Since 1910, Scouting America has offered hundreds of merit badges—each one a doorway to new skills and life-changing experiences. In 1911, the First Aid Merit Badge was added to the original list of 14 “Badges of Merit,” bringing the total number of Merit Badges that could be earned to 57 (27 of which, including First Aid, are still in use). While earning the First Aid Merit Badge, Scouts learn how to care for injured or ill people until professional medical help arrives. Scouts also learn that emergency medical treatment is a set of clear action steps. This month’s story is about Dr. Joseph Hart, who earned the First Aid Merit Badge in 1980.)
I earned the First Aid Merit Badge in 1980 when I was a sixth-grader with Troop 13 in Brooklyn, New York. My instructor was a New York City paramedic, Ivan Quevedo, who taught far beyond the badge requirements—while still emphasizing what we would now call “scope of practice” (what we were and were not trained to do in an emergency). That balance of inspiration and responsibility sparked something in me and pushed me to go further.
The merit badge itself was required for First Class, but I was already interested in medicine. My mother and her twin sister were both nurses, so the field was familiar to me. Still, the experience of earning the First Aid Merit Badge made it real. From there, my career built step-by-step.
While a Scout, I earned related merit badges like Emergency Preparedness, Safety, and Lifeguarding. I also spent three summers on camp staff, where I was trained in CPR and took on meaningful responsibilities. While most situations I encountered were routine, there were moments when my first aid skills really mattered.
During high school, I volunteered in a program that placed me in the emergency department at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City one day a week. I worked closely with surgical residents—helping with complex dressings and preparing for bedside procedures in the emergency department. That opportunity grew into a full-time internship during my final trimester of high school, and those surgical residents took me under their wing in a way that shaped my future.
At the same time, I became an EMT, starting coursework early in my senior year. After graduating high school, I worked a desk job during the day and volunteered as a first responder EMS worker at night, with some paid weekend shifts. I was fortunate to work with highly skilled, teaching-oriented paramedics who encouraged my curiosity and taught me next-level responsibilities and roles.
In 1991, I entered medical school at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, eventually completing general surgery training, vascular surgery specialization, and three additional years of research, followed by a post-fellowship experience in Belgium. Since 2006, I’ve been in practice as an attending surgeon, and I became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 2008. In 2019, I joined the faculty at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
When I look back, that First Aid merit badge didn’t just teach skills to me—it created momentum. It opened doors, built confidence, and introduced me to mentors who changed my trajectory. So although every merit badge I earned mattered, without question the First Aid merit badge has had the biggest impact on my life.