In light of his new found fame, some of us may forget or not even be aware of the Ben Carson, behind the politics. I myself was surprised when Ben Carson was announced as a former doctor and took it upon myself to do some research and find out his background. To my surprise Ben Carson, is not only a retired neurosurgeon but the first neurosurgeon ever, black or white to successfully perform the operation of separating conjoined twins.
Today, we speak of Ben Carson as the second place candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States. But before his role in politics, Carson already had a pretty interesting background.
After graduating from Yale University and The University of Michigan Medical School, Carson went on to complete his residency in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. A year later he was appointed at the Hospitals’s Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery where he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors and the list goes on. While at John Hopkins, Carson revived and reformed the practice of hemispherectomy, a procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy.
In 1987 is when he performed the revolutionary surgery of separated conjoined twins. Although seven months after the surgery the twins were reported in an abnormal state, this surgery presented the blueprint for future similar operations. The operation was subsequently refined for years and Carson participated in four other procedures, including a separation of Zambian twins which ended “in a normal neurological outcome.”
Following these achievements Carson spoke in a conference that was seen worldwide, which eventually helped lead the way for his role as motivational speak and author of numerous books. In 2009, the biopic “In Gifted Hands,” premiered depicting the life of Ben Carson.