 His father had planned a traditional career for Galen in philosophy or politics and took care to expose him to literary and philosophical influences.However, Galen states that in around AD 145 his father had a dream in which the god Asclepius (Aesculapius) appeared and commanded Nicon to send his son to study medicine.Again, no expense was spared, and following his earlier liberal education, at 16 he began studies at the prestigious local sanctuary or Asclepieum dedicated to Asclepius, god of medicine, as a θεραπευτής ("therapeutes", or attendant) for four years.