Carson, Benjamin 1951–

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Benjamin Carson 1951–

Neurosurgeon

The director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Dr. Benjamin Carson is “one of the acknowledged miracle workers of modern medicine,” wrote Christopher Phillips in Reader’s Digest. Carson has received recognition throughout the medical community for his prowess in performing complex and delicate neurosurgical procedures, primarily on children. Among his accomplishments are a number of faultless hemispherectomies, a complicated surgical process in which a portion of the brain of a critically ill seizure victim or other neurologically diseased patient is removed to restore normal functioning. Carson’s most famous operation—one that gained him international acclaim—came in 1987 when he separated a pair of West German Siamese Twins, who had been joined at the backs of their heads. In the landmark operation, which lasted 22 hours, Carson led a surgical team comprised of 70 doctors, nurses, and technicians.

Carson’s rise to the top of his field began in the rough inner-city neighborhoods of Detroit. Raised by his divorced mother, Carson—who always dreamed of becoming a doctor—was a failing student with a penchant for fighting, until the age of ten, when his mother imposed a reading program—two books weekly—on him and strictly limited his television viewing. Carson soon became an avid reader and his grades improved, putting him near the top of his class. In high school he continued to excel and received offers from several Ivy League universities. Carson eventually attended Yale University on a scholarship and went on to study medicine at the University of Michigan, where his initial plan was to become a psychotherapist. In his first year of medical school, however, he discovered neurosurgery. “I loved dissecting things,” Carson told Ebony. “And I always felt that I was very good with my hands. Neurosurgery was a natural for me.”

Carson did both his internship in general surgery and residency in neurosurgery at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital, considered one of the nation’s elite medical centers. He became the hospital’s first-ever black neurosurgical resident. In 1983 he moved with his wife to Perth, in Western Australia, to became senior neurosurgical resident at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, one of Australia’s leading centers for brain surgery. Due to the lack of neurosurgeons in Australia and Carson’s advancing medical skills, he obtained much valuable work experience in his year at the hospital. “I was operating so much,” he told Ebony, “I was able to concentrate several years of experience into one year.” He returned to Johns Hopkins in 1985 and quickly became one of the hospital’s leading surgeons. Within a year he was promoted to director of pediatric neurosurgery and, at the age of thirty-four, was one of the youngest directors of a surgical division in the United States.

Carson rapidly gained a reputation within the medical community as an exceptionally skilled surgeon—especially adept at safely performing operations that typically carried high mortality rates. Such is the case with hemispherectomies and the separation of Siamese twins, which usually results in the loss of one twin. The West German twins that Carson operated on in 1987 were joined through a common blood vessel in the back of their heads. The surgeon devised a plan to separate

At a Glance…

Born Benjamin Solomon Carson on September 18, 1951, in Detroit, Ml; son of Robert Solomon and Sonya (Copeland) Carson; married Lacena Rustin, July 6, 1975; children: Murray Nedlands, Benjamin Solomon, Jr., Rhoeyce Harrington. Education: Yale University, B.A., 1973; University of Michigan, M.D., 1977. Religion: Seventh Day Adventist.

Career: Diplomate, American Board of Neurological Surgery. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, surgical intern, 1977-78, neurosurgical resident, 1978-82, chief resident, 1982-83, director of pediatric neurosurgery, 1985-; Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, senior registrar in neurosurgery, 1983-84; member of medical advisory board, Children’s Cancer Foundation, Baltimore, 1987-; Maryland Red Cross honorary medical chairman, Baltimore, 1987-.

Memberships: American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, AAAS, Pediatric Oncology Group, National Medical Association; Carson Scholars Fund, founder.

Awards: Cum laude award, American Radiological Society, 1982; Paul Harris fellow, Rotary International, 1988; Clinical Practitioner of the Year, National Medical Association, 1988; American Black Achievement Award, Ebony, 1988; Candle Award, Morehouse University, 1989. 21 honorary doctorates of science from Gettysburg College, 1988, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Andrews University, and Sojourner-Douglas College, all 1989, and Shippensburg University, 1990; Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, 1994-; Excellence in Leadership Award, Center for New Black Leadership, 2000.

Addresses: Home —Columbia, MD. Office —Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 North Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205.

the twins by completely shutting down their blood flow, severing their common vessel, and then restoring their individual vessel systems. Although the entire procedure lasted 22 hours, Carson and another surgeon had only one hour to conduct the actual surgery and restoration. Carson commented to Ebony on the success of the operation. “Not only was it exciting to be part of a history-making event, but the significant fact is that we put together an incredibly complex scene with a team of incredibly competent people who submerged their egos and pulled off what was perhaps the most complex surgical feat in the history of mankind.”

In addition to his duties as director of pediatric neurosurgery at John Hopkins University Hospital, Carson also handles professorship duties at the hospital’s medical school including the subjects of neurosurgery, plastic surgery, oncology, and pediatrics. In 2001 he was also working on treatments for a type of cancer that attacks the brain stem. According to Time, “The tumor’s location makes surgery difficult and prospects for survival bleak. But those are exactly the kinds of odds that Carson has faced before and beaten.”

Carson continued to practice neurosurgery completing between 400 to 500 operations per year including a famous case in 1999 where he performed a hemispherectomy on a 15-year-old girl. The radical procedure, which involves the removal of one-half of the brain, is used in cases of brain disease. The medical community had turned away from the practice of high mortality rates. However, Carson invented new techniques that have made the procedure much more successful. His intervention saved the life of the aforementioned girl.

As his fame grew, Carson realized that his rags-to-riches life could serve as an inspiration to young people. “I made a commitment to myself that at every opportunity, I’d encourage young people. As I became more well-known and started getting more opportunities to speak, I decided that teaching kids how to set goals and achieve them would be a constant theme of mine,” he explained on www.usdreams.com. “I try to do as much as I can for young people without neglecting my family and my duties at Johns Hopkins.” In 1997 he took a leave of absence to pursue these speaking opportunities. Now, the children come to the hospital and he often addresses groups of up to 800 children at a time.

In 1994, along with his wife, Lacena, Carson established the Carson Scholars Fund, with a personal commitment to donate $500, 000. He told the Saturday Evening Post, “[Education] was probably the single most important factor that distinguished me from others who grew up in the same environment. Fortunately, I recognized early on the difference education makes in our society.” He was dismayed that schools routinely awarded athletes with trophies and rallies, but academic prowess was for the most part ignored. “I find that in a lot of schools, kids think it’s not cool to be smart,” he told Time. He hopes to change that with this scholarship fund that awards students in grades 4 through 12 who not only achieve good grades but also demonstrate a commitment to their community. The first recipient went on to MIT and maintained a 5.0 grade-point-average there—A-pluses across the board. Currently the scholarships are given in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Delaware, though he and his wife have hopes of expanding the program to their home state of Michigan, and eventually going nationwide.

Carson has also shared his story with the general public in a series of inspiring books. In 1990 he wrote Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, which details how he rose from poverty and despair in the ghettoes of Detroit to become one of the world’s preeminent neurosurgeons. The book won the Blackbook Humanitarian Award from Blackbook Publishing in 1991. He followed it with 1992’s Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence which outlines Carson’s personal steps for success. In 1999 he published his third book, The Big Picture: Getting a Perspective on What is Really Important in Life. Again, it draws from Carson’s life experiences and shares his philosophy that it is not where you come from that matters, but where you are going. The proceeds from his books go towards the Carson Scholars Fund.

Carson has been showered with awards for his achievements. They include the Certificate of Honor for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Medicine by the National Medical Fellowship (1988), American Black Achievement Award from Ebony & Johnson Publications (1988), Clinical Practitioner of the Year, National Medical Association (1988), membership in the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans since 1994, and the Excellence in Leadership award from the Center for New Black Leadership (2000). In addition he has been awarded an astonishing 21 honorary doctorates from universities throughout the world. He also joined the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Surgeons, both in 1989.

Carson remains modest about his individual achievements. A devout Seventh Day Adventist, he views his medical accomplishments in terms of his religious faith. “God created the body,” he told Ebony. “He knows more about it than anybody else and can heal virtually every problem. It’s only a matter of whether we’re willing to let Him work through us.” In an article Carson wrote for Ebony he cited his mother’s influence as crucial to his success. He singled out her philosophy of “no excuses for anything” and “if anybody can do something, you can do it better.”