Ben Carson

Benjamin Solomon Carson, Sr., M.D.
Ben Carson, (left) being announced as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on June 19, 2008.
Born	September 18, 1951 (1951-09-18) (age 60) Detroit, Michigan, United States
Nationality	American
Fields	Neurosurgery
Institutions	Johns Hopkins Hospital
Alma mater	Yale University University of Michigan Medical School
Known for	Pediatric neurosurgery
Notable awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom (2008)

Benjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson, Sr., M.D., (born September 18, 1951) is an American neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Early life

Carson was born in 1951. After graduating with honors from his high school, he attended Yale University, where he earned a degree in Psychology. From Yale, he attended University of Michigan Medical School, where his interest shifted from psychiatry to neurosurgery.

Career

Carson's excellent hand-eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning skills made him a gifted surgeon.^{[citation needed]} After medical school he became a neurosurgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. At age 33, he became the hospital's youngest major division director, as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery.

In 1987, Carson made medical history by being the first surgeon in the world to successfully separate siamese twins (the Binder twins) conjoined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). Operations to separate twins joined in this way had always failed, resulting in the death of one or both of the infants. Carson agreed to undertake the operation. The 70-member surgical team, led by Carson, worked for 22 hours. At the end, the twins were successfully separated and can now survive independently. Carson recalls: “I looked at that situation. I said, ‘Why is it that this is such a disaster?’ and it was because they would always exsanguinate. They would bleed to death, and I said, ‘There's got to be a way around that. These are modern times.’ This was back in 1987. I was talking to a friend of mine, who was a cardiothoracic surgeon, who was the chief of the division, and I said, ‘You guys operate on the heart in babies, how do you keep them from exsanguinating’ and he says, ‘Well, we put them in hypothermic arrest.’ I said, ‘Is there any reason that -- if we were doing a set of Siamese twins that were joined at the head -- that we couldn't put them into hypothermic arrest, at the appropriate time, when we're likely to lose a lot of blood?’ and he said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Wow, this is great.’ Then I said, ‘Why am I putting my time into this? I'm not going to see any Siamese twins.’ So I kind of forgot about it, and lo and behold, two months later, along came these doctors from Germany, presenting this case of Siamese twins. And, I was asked for my opinion, and I then began to explain the techniques that should be used, and how we would incorporate hypothermic arrest, and everybody said ‘Wow! That sounds like it might work.’ And, my colleagues and I, a few of us went over to Germany. We looked at the twins. We actually put in scalp expanders, and five months later we brought them over and did the operation, and lo and behold, it worked.” ^[1] Carson's other surgical innovations have included the first intrauterine procedure to relieve pressure on the brain of a hydrocephalic fetal twin, and a hemispherectomy, in which a young girl suffering from uncontrollable seizures had one half of her brain removed.

Awards and honors

Carson has received numerous honors and many awards over the years, including over 61 honorary doctorate degrees. He was also a member of the American Academy of Achievement, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Yale Corporation (the governing body of Yale University), and many other prestigious organizations. He sits on many boards including the Board of Directors of Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corporation, and America's Promise. He was also the president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. In 2007, Carson was inducted into the Indiana Wesleyan University Society of World Changers and received an honorary doctorate while speaking at the university. He returned to IWU the following year when his friend, Tony Dungy, was also inducted into the society.^[2] On June 19, 2008, Carson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush. He is a recipient of the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal and the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership, and was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2010.

Publications and appearances

Carson has written four bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company: Gifted Hands, The Big Picture, Take the Risk, and Think Big. The first book is an autobiography and two are about his personal philosophies of success that incorporate hard work and a faith in God; Carson is a Seventh-day Adventist. In a debate with Richard Dawkins, Francis Collins, and Daniel Dennett, Carson stated he doesn't believe in evolution: "I don't believe in evolution...He says that because there are these similarities, even though we can't specifically connect them, it proves that this is what happened."^[3]

A video documentary about Carson's life titled Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story was released by Zondervan in 1992. Subsequently in 2009, a separate television movie with the identical title premiered on TNT on February 7, 2009, with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.^[4]

Personal life

In June 2002 Carson was forced to cut back on his public appearances when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but the cancer was caught in time. Since then Carson has cut back on his schedule. He still operates on more than 300 children a year but has been trying to shorten his days: prior to his cancer he used to work from 7:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. Now, he tries to leave the hospital at 6:15 P.M. This gives him more time to spend with his wife and three children.^[5]

Carson married Lacena (Candy) A. Rustin—whom he met at Yale—in 1975; she holds an M.B.A. degree and is an accomplished musician, and both are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Christian denomination. They have three sons, Murray, Benjamin Jr., and Rhoeyce.^[6]

Publications

• (2009) Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, Zondervan Publishing Co. ISBN 0-310-21469-6
• (2008) Take The Risk, Zondervan Publishing Co. ISBN 0-310-25973-8
• (2000) The Big Picture, Zondervan Publishing Co. ISBN 0-310-23834-X
• (1996) Think Big, Zondervan Publishing Co. ISBN 0-310-21459-9
• (1990) Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, Review&Herald Pub. Assoc., ISBN 0-8280-0669-5

References

1. ^ Biography and Video Interview of Benjamin Carson at Academy of Achievement.
2. ^ http://www.indwes.edu/news/2008/Tony-Dungy-honored.htm
3. ^ http://www.archive.org/details/RichardDawkinsDanielDennettVs.FrancisCollinsBenjaminCarson
4. ^ Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009) at the Internet Movie Database
5. ^ Encyclopedia of World Biography: Biography of Benjamin S. Carson.
6. ^ Health and Medical Biographies.Biography of Benjamin S. Carson.

External links

• Ben Carson interviewed on Conversations from Penn State
• Everyday Matters Magazine Interview with Dr. Ben Carson
• Home Page of the Carson Scholars Fund
• Dr. Ben Carson M.D.
• Benjamin Carson receives a Presidential Medal
• Dr. Benjamin Carson - Pediatric Neurosurgery
• There Is No Job More Important Than Parenting: NPR Interview With Dr. Benjamin Carson
• Dr. Ben Carson: The Gifted Hands Interview with Kam Williams

A movie has been made as a tribute to Dr Ben Carson known as Gifted Hands (source : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1295085/)

Persondata
Name	Carson, Benjamin Solomon
Alternative names
Short description	American neurosurgeon
Date of birth	1951-09-18
Place of birth	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Date of death
Place of death