February 11, 2009 4:50 PM
- Text
The Amazing Doctor Q
Scroll Left Scroll Right
-
play Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble -
play 5/24: I-5 bridge collapses north of Seattle; "On the ... -
play I-5 bridge collapses north of Seattle -
play Teacher injured in Okla. tornado takes first steps -
play On the road: Three siblings survive Okla. tornado -
play Man killed in brutal London attack -
play 5/23: Obama: The war on terror, "like all wars, ... -
play Tornado victim reunites with dog during interview -
play Resentment over wars may have motivated London terror attack -
play Second London terror suspect identified -
play Storm spotter: Oklahoma tornado "a nightmare" -
play The power of a uniquely American song
By all accounts, the man they call Dr. Q is one of the best up-and-coming neurosurgeons in the country. At 39, he's already director of brain tumor surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
He's clinically brilliant and relentlessly charming — his patients say it's almost like he was born to be a doctor.
If they only knew.
"My very first job was with these very same hands — the very same hands that do brain surgery now, back then they pulled weeds," Dr. Q says.
Just 20 years ago, this renowned neurosurgeon was about as anonymous as a human being can get in America — just another illegal immigrant working the fields of California's San Joaquin Valley, CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports for Assignment America.
Born Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, he says that as a kid he dreamed of being a doctor. But even after he jumped the U.S.-Mexico border and took up residence in a leaky old trailer, he says the moon seemed closer than medical school.
"All that I had on my mind was just to make a little money, send it back to my parents — that's it," he says.
But he says he had this passion — to learn everything.
There were a lot of little steps.
He was picking weeds, then he got a job on a tractor. Then he was a welder. Then he went to community college and learned English.
"Then University of California-Berkeley," Dr. Q says. At Berkeley he got good grades. "Absolutely. My life began to really take off."
Next he got his U.S. citizenship and a Harvard Medical School scholarship — he graduated cum laude. He also squeezed in time for a family, and is now at Johns Hopkins, scrubbing those same weed-picking hands before performing brain surgery.
It's no doubt a remarkable American success story. But the fact that it all started with some fence-hopping makes it a controversial one, too.
"The last thing that I want is for people to think what I have done is justified," he says. "The only thing I can do is try to pay back with every single thing I do."
To that end, Dr. Q spends much of his free time in the lab — trying to find a cure for brain cancer. He hopes it makes amends, but admits he'd cross again in a heartbeat.
"It's human nature to try to find ways to survive," he says. "It's human nature, it's not rocket science."
It's not even brain surgery.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. He's clinically brilliant and relentlessly charming — his patients say it's almost like he was born to be a doctor.
If they only knew.
"My very first job was with these very same hands — the very same hands that do brain surgery now, back then they pulled weeds," Dr. Q says.
Just 20 years ago, this renowned neurosurgeon was about as anonymous as a human being can get in America — just another illegal immigrant working the fields of California's San Joaquin Valley, CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports for Assignment America.
Born Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, he says that as a kid he dreamed of being a doctor. But even after he jumped the U.S.-Mexico border and took up residence in a leaky old trailer, he says the moon seemed closer than medical school.
"All that I had on my mind was just to make a little money, send it back to my parents — that's it," he says.
But he says he had this passion — to learn everything.
There were a lot of little steps.
He was picking weeds, then he got a job on a tractor. Then he was a welder. Then he went to community college and learned English.
"Then University of California-Berkeley," Dr. Q says. At Berkeley he got good grades. "Absolutely. My life began to really take off."
Next he got his U.S. citizenship and a Harvard Medical School scholarship — he graduated cum laude. He also squeezed in time for a family, and is now at Johns Hopkins, scrubbing those same weed-picking hands before performing brain surgery.
It's no doubt a remarkable American success story. But the fact that it all started with some fence-hopping makes it a controversial one, too.
"The last thing that I want is for people to think what I have done is justified," he says. "The only thing I can do is try to pay back with every single thing I do."
To that end, Dr. Q spends much of his free time in the lab — trying to find a cure for brain cancer. He hopes it makes amends, but admits he'd cross again in a heartbeat.
"It's human nature to try to find ways to survive," he says. "It's human nature, it's not rocket science."
It's not even brain surgery.
42 Comments +
Popular Now in CBS Evening News
- Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble
- 5/24: I-5 bridge collapses north of Seattle; "On the Road": Three siblings survive Okla. tornado
- The forecaster who sounded the alarm for Moore, Okla.
- I-5 bridge collapses north of Seattle
- Sibling rivalry takes a backseat after Okla. tornado
- Survivor of KKK Baptist Church bombing: "I had to forgive"
- On the road: Three siblings survive Okla. tornado
- Jersey Shore shop owners reopen for Memorial Day
- CBS News goes undercover in a Bangladesh clothing factory
- Survivor of Bangladesh factory collapse speaks out
- Man killed in brutal London attack
- Second London terror suspect identified
- Did Obama admin. know of IRS targeting during campaign?
- Resentment over wars may have motivated London terror attack
- The power of a uniquely American song
- Storm spotter: Oklahoma tornado "a nightmare"
