Informed Consent: The U.S. Medical Education System Explained
Benjamin Brown spent the first 18 years of his life in the rural Minnesota community of Glenwood where he attended the local public school system from kindergarten through twelfth grade. He completed his first two years of college at the University of Minnesota.  While living in Minneapolis he worked as a laboratory assistant at Abbot Northwestern Hospital. After his sophomore year he transferred to Tulane University in order to be closer to his girlfriend at the time, who subsequently became his wife. While living in New Orleans Ben worked as a nurse’s assistant at Touro Infirmary and taught MCAT review courses for the Princeton Review. In 2005 he graduated from Tulane University and moved to Dallas where he attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. While in medical school Ben worked with the department of admissions, the office of medical education and served as the student representative on two curriculum committees - experiences which gave him a lot of insight to the U.S. medical education system. During his 4th year of medical school he traveled the country, interviewing at nearly 20 plastic surgery residency programs - an experience that gave him insight into the way residency programs select their residents. In June of 2009 he graduated from medical school, 1st in his class. Following graduation, Ben and his wife moved to Washington, DC. He is currently completing his postgraduate training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.