Charles Everett Koop (known as C. Everett Koop) was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 14, 1916. As a pun on his last name (Koop/coop), Koop was nicknamed Chick. Koop displayed an early interest in medicine, sneaking into Columbia Presbyterian Hospital at the age of 15 in order to observe abdominal surgery. He was also known to anesthetize neighborhood cats with ether in order to perform surgery on them and practice stitching them up.

At only 16 years of age, Koop began classes at Dartmouth College, graduating with a B.A. degree in 1937. By 1941, Koop had received his M.D. from Cornell Medical College. He trained in pediatrics at Pennsylvania Hospital, continuing on in pediatric surgery at University of Pennsylvania School of medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, and the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Koop earned an Sc.D degree in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania...