Continuing with our 2022 theme of Black Men in White Coats, we are featuring Dr. Ben Carson for the month of April.

Ben Carson is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery and recognized worldwide.

Growing up in a single-parent home in Detroit, Carson graduated high school with a full scholarship to Yale University. He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1977 and was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, completing his residency in 1983.

Dr. Carson was appointed director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States.

In 1987, at 35, he received global acclaim as lead neurosurgeon in the separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. It was the first successful operation of its kind. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures.

Upon retirement in 2013, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. After retiring from medicine Dr. Carson ran for president in 2016, and served as the U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Trump (2017–2021).

Dr. Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 and election into the National Academy of Medicine in 2010.