An answered prayer for guidance during a neurosurgery interview
Dr. Ben Carson
Dr. Ben Carson’s story has inspired countless people inside and outside of medicine. Here is an excerpt from his book, Gifted Hands, in which he recounts how he sought God during a neurosurgery interview at his top choice.
“Tell me a little about yourself,” Dr. Udvarhelyi began, looking across his desk at me.
His manner was straightforward, interested, and I relaxed. I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. Did I dare to be myself? Help me, Lord, I prayed. If this is Your will for me, if this is the place You know I should be, help me to give the answers that will open the doors to this school.
“Johns Hopkins is certainly my first choice,” I began. “It’s also my only choice. This is the place where I want to be this fall.”
Had I said that too strongly? I wondered. Had I been too open about that I wanted? I didn’t know, but I had decided before going to Baltimore for the interview that, above all, I wanted to be myself and to be accepted or rejected by who I was and not because I successfully projected some kind of image through a super-sales job.
After he gained a few bits of information about me, Dr. Udvarhelyi’s questions revolved around medicine. “Why did you choose to become a doctor?” he asked. His hands rested on his large desk.
“What aspirations do you have? What are your primary fields of interest?”
I tried to answer clearly and concisely each time. However, at some point in the conversation, Dr. Udvarhelyi made an oblique reference to a concert he had attended the night before.
“Yes, sir,” I said. “I was there.”
“You were?” he asked, and I saw the startled expression on his face. “Did you enjoy it?”
“Very much,” I said, adding that the violin soloist had not been quite as good as I had expected.
He leaned forward, his face animated. “I thought the same thing. He was fine, technically fine, but —”
When the interview concluded and I left his office, I wondered if I had gotten Dr. Udvarhelyi off track and the digression would count against me. I consoled myself with the thought that he had brought up the topic and he had kept the subject foremost in our conversation. Years later Dr. Udvarhelyi told me that he had made a strong case for my being accepted to Dr. Long, the chairman. . . . Although he didn’t say it, I’m convinced that my interest in classical music was a decisive factor.
I learned something from that experience. No knowledge is ever wasted. To quote the apostle Paul: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). . . . I also believe that God has an overall plan for people’s lives and the details get worked out along the way, even though we usually have no idea what’s going on.
I was elated when I received word that I’d been accepted into the neurosurgery program at Johns Hopkins. Now I was going to get the chance for training at what I considered the greatest training hospital in the world.
[Excerpted from Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson, with Cecil Murphey. Copyright © 1990 by Review and Herald® Publishing Association. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com]