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

At a Glance…

Full name, Benjamin Solomon Carson; born 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. Religion: Seventh Day Adventist. Education: Yale University, B.A., 1973; University of Michigan, M.D., 1977.

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—.

Member: American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, AAAS, Pediatric Oncology Group, National Medical Association.

Awards: Cum laude award, American Radiological Society, 1982; Paul Harris fellow, Rotary International, 1988; American Black Achievement Award, Ebony, 1988; Candle Award, Morehouse University, 1989. 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.

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

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 hemi-spherectomies 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 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.”

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.”