He earned his M.D. in 1966 from Duke University, Medical School, with postgraduate training at the University of Virginia Medical Center and the Duke University Medical Center. He was the keynote speaker to the Japan Society for Treatment of Coma (1996 and 2002), and a member of the 2005 SCANS Project (Shanghai Coma Afferent Nerve Stimulation), China, and of the 2003–2004 VECTOR Project, Vilnius University Hospital; Vilnius, Lithuania. He credits Professor Tetsuo Kanno of Japan for developing the neuroscience of the electrical treatment to help awaken persons in long-term coma states.