Dr.  Turner M.D is a general surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  She is an associate program director for the General Surgery Residency Program at the University of Maryland Medical Centre. She serves as chair of the Surgical Caucus of the American Medical Association (AMA) Young Physicians Section and is a member of the Editorial Board of Surgical News. Her academic interests include teaching and training paradigms for medical students and residents in open and laparoscopic surgery.

Dr.  Turner received her medical degree at Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and completed her surgical residency at Howard University Hospital.  Throughout her residency, she was a senior staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism.  Dr.  Turner’s fellowship training was in minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center & Weill-Cornell University School of Medicine in New York.  Dr. Turner's clinical practice focuses on minimallyinvasive/laparoscopic, gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery. She has a diverse research background, including studying nitric oxide and the kidneys. In organized medicine, Dr. Turner has held the position of resident on the general surgery RRC and was the resident member on the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs.  Given her considerable experience in her field, we asked Dr. Turner what was her best operation and why. “This is a tough question to answer.  I guess, I would say that every operation has a different scenario which is exciting.  It happens that I have to deal with trauma patients, life and death situations. I enjoy using new techniques (such as laparoscopy when we first tried it) which have not been employed before.  I like that kind of challenge and opportunity.  There are specific patients which resonate with you”.

Dr. Carson, M.D was born in Michigan in 1951 to a young mother in inner-city Detroit.  He and his older brother, Curtis, grew up amid poverty, crime, and violence.  His parents divorced when Dr. Carson was very young.  He and his brother were raised by their mother.  After his parents’ divorce, Carson lost confidence in himself and believed his classmates, who would insult him by calling him names.  He internalized those insults and began developing a violent temper.  His mother challenged him and his brother to strive for excellence.  Thanks to his mother’s powerful faith in him, he regained confidence and educated himself by reading two books per week.  He had to provide regular reports of his readings to his mother.  She had a third-grade education, but a PhD in Life.