Hanover -- To his Presidential Medal of Freedom, his 35 honorary doctorates and the $140 million research building at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center that will bear his name, C. Everett Koop can now add one more honor.

The former U.S. surgeon general and longtime Hanover resident yesterday received an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

The college dates to 1505 and is the oldest surgical organization in the world.

“It's something that every young surgeon knows he can never get, so why worry about it?” Koop said of the award during a brief ceremony inside the Hanover Inn. “If there is such a thing in surgery as a gold standard, they are the people who have Fort Knox.”

Koop also used the event to get jumpstart on celebrating his 93rd birthday, which is today, and offered a few thoughts on the current health care debate in Congress.

The presentation of the honorary fellowship is usually made in Edinburgh, but Koop said he doesn't “locomote” well anymore, so Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh President John Orr came to Hanover.

Even though he can no longer travel, Koop said he is still active. He remains on the Dartmouth faculty, and is giving four lectures this semester to Dartmouth Medical School students and Dartmouth College undergraduates.

“I'm not retired,” Koop, a 1937 Dartmouth graduate, stressed.

And, oh, yeah, a couple days ago he fielded a phone call at home from President Barack Obama, who wished Koop a happy birthday.

Koop said the two discussed more serious matters, but that it would be “improper” to reveal the specifics.

However, Koop said he has followed health care debate in Washington and, before yesterday's late afternoon ceremony, monitored headlines from the Senate Finance Committee hearing, which ended with approval of a package of reforms.

In a brief interview, Koop said he is against the proposed legislation, believing it too complicated and unable to generate cost savings that it promises. He specifically criticized a provision requiring citizens to purchase health insurance.

“If you're going to fine them for not having insurance, it's going to cost more,” Koop said.

But Koop was too busy yesterday to delve into policy details. He had friends and medical cohorts to thank, and plaudits to receive.

Calling Koop the world's “greatest living pediatric surgeon,” Orr said Koop was being awarded for a lifetime of achievement.

Koop is best known for pushing to make AIDS a public health issue, not a moral issue, a position that caused many critics to pressure President Ronald Reagan to fire Koop. He came to prominence when he separated conjoined twins and developed other surgical procedures for infants.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, which has 18,000 members, and trains students and promotes best surgical practices, rarely gives honorary fellowships to Americans, Orr said. But Koop was an obvious choice.

“I've known of him for many years,” he said. “I've read his books and his papers as a young surgeon.”

Mark Davis can be reached at mcdavis@vnews.com or (603) 727-3304.