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He is a committed Christian, a world-class pediatric neurosurgeon and director of Pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, a renowned scientist, a teacher, an advocate of education, and an award-winning author. Dr Ben Carson has made many contributions to the field of medicine and inspired thousands of America’s students to set their goals high, study and achieve. For his efforts, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in June 2008.  Dr Carson’s life story based on his award winning Memoir, “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story” starring Cuba Gooding Jr, will air on TNT in February 2009. The staff at HealthOU.org was able to catch up with Dr Carson for a brief interview about life, outreach, and upcoming movie.
HealthOU: Dr Carson we would first of all like to thank you for spending time with us this afternoon and congratulate you on all of your accomplishments. You are truly an inspiration to thousands of students across the globe. Could you tell us how this movie came to be? Dr Carson: More than a dozen production companies have approached me over the years. They all seemed to believe in artistic license, changing subtle but important details about my life. HealthOU: Like what? Could you give an example? Dr Carson: For example, the influence that God has had in my life. This group sponsored by Sony Pictures and Johnson and Johnson seemed to understand the importance of God’s leadership in my life. The movie is set to be released in February 2009. HealthOU: As an Adventist Christian and one who understands the value of quality education, I have always been intrigued and impressed with the Carson’s scholars program. Could you tell us a little about the program and how it got started? Dr Carson: The idea came to my wife and me after hearing the alarming statistics about the performance of our American students in the areas of math and science. At that time we were ranked 21 out of 22 countries in terms of our performance. In visiting schools around the country, I noticed that each school set aside big display cases for sports trophies. So, we came up with the idea of putting together scholastic trophies. HealthOU: How are the scholars chosen? Dr Carson: These students are very bright. They are chosen based on their academic performance, humanitarian qualities, and humanistic efforts. HealthOU: Could you give us an example of some of the “humanistic efforts” of these students? Dr Carson: Well, taking care of an elderly grandparent, helping with food banks, feeding the homeless, visiting nursing homes, and tutoring other students are just a few examples that come to mind. Some of our students’ accomplishments will blow your mind. In terms of academic performance and humanitarian qualities, one student comes to mind, who initially dropped out of school to take care of his siblings after both of his parents died. His father passed away from cancer and his mother committed suicide because of her grief. This student later went on to graduate as president of his high school class. He then enrolled as a triple major at Johns Hopkins where he also went on to form a suicide prevention program. I can think of others who have gone after high school to top schools like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and after college land great positions at Microsoft Corporation. We now have an alumni association for the fund. HealthOU: Those are great stories. I’ll bet it helps the whole school to have a Carson’s Scholar. Dr Carson: Oh yes, we have done research that shows that putting a scholar in a classroom raises the GPA of the entire class. Students tell me all the time, “thank you for making it OK to be smart”. HealthOU: There are many students and alumni of Oakwood University who are interested in and committed to outreach. What practical advise could you give us about starting our own outreach projects. Dr Carson: Start by asking yourself, “what is the need that I am called to fill” and there are needs everywhere. The rest will fall into place. Through lots of prayer, speaking and partnering with the right people, your project will begin to take on a life of its own. HealthOU: Are there any other projects that you are working on right now? Dr Carson: Oh yes, lately I have noticed a huge need in the area of engineering. We only produce a very few engineers when compared to countries like China. We are and have been falling behind other countries in engineering for quite some time. We are now partnering now in science and technology with companies like Lockheed Martin and others using the YMCA and the Boys and Girls clubs to attract students at an early age and get this need filled. 
HealthOU: Dr Carson, before we let you go, I just have to ask, what would you tell an up and coming young Christian interested in health missions and medicine as a profession. Dr Carson: Don’t try to force a fit. Ask yourself what are my talents. Then look for areas that correspond with you and your God given talents. You will be a lot happier and more fulfilled that way. HealthOU: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments. Dr Carson: The pleasure was all mine. For more information about Dr Ben Carson and the Carson’s Scholar’s fund, please refer to the following links. www.doctorbencarson.com http://www.achievement.org http://www.carsonscholars.org http://hopkinsneuro.org/team_member.cfm/expert/Benjamin_Carson |
