Kevin P. Inge
Gifted Hands is the autobiography of Dr. Ben Carson. Dr. Carson grew up as a poor ghetto kid in the streets of Detroit. His father left the family when he was eight years old. His mother, Sonya, seemed to work constantly to support the Ben and his older brother Curtis. Up until fifth grade Carson's report cards were horrible. He had very little interest in schoolwork. He also had a problem with his anger that kept getting him into trouble. With the motivation of his mother, and a few of his teachers, Carson develop an interest in education. Carson's mother knew how difficult I would be for her sons if they did not acquire a good education. Even though she was illiterate she demanded that her boys read two books a week. To make sure they read the books she had them write book reports for each book. They didn't realize at the time that she couldn't read. This helped establish the boys as good readers and writers. It was during this time that Dr. Carson discovered his interest in science.
After converting to Christianity at an early age Ben Carson's life started taking a change for the better. He learned to manage his anger and excel at his schoolwork. While at the bottom of his class in grades, Carson wakes to the reality that it did not have to be that way. He goes on to accelerate to the top of his class in elementary, middle and high school. His grades became so good that he received a full scholarship to attend Yale University. After struggling in his class work at Yale, especially chemistry, Carson wonders if its God's will for him to become a doctor. After praying to God and having the chemistry test revealed to him in a dream, he realizes that his dream of becoming a doctor was ordered by God. One of the reasons Carson struggled in his early years at Yale was the way he studied. He was a crammer. He usually waited until the night before an exam to study. This information he studied was usually soon forgotten after the tests. Carson applied himself not only to pass tests, but to learn the information as well. He graduated from Yale in 1973 with outstanding grades. Carson went on to medical school at the University of Michigan where he was awarded a variety of honors for his clinical work. Within a year of Carson's appointment at John Hopkins he faces one of the most difficult surgeries of his life. The girl's name was Maranda. She was having about one hundred seizures a day. Carson had no way of knowing the influence she would have over his career. It was such a difficult procedure that it rewarded Carson world fame. He performed his first hemispherectomy. A hemispherectomy is a complicated surgical procedure on the brain for the treatment of traumatic epilepsy.
