Obama To Nominate Regina Benjamin MD as Surgeon General

Reports indicate that President Obama will nominate Dr. Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General of the United States. His prior choice, Sanjay Gupta, withdrew from consideration.

Benjamin is best known for setting up a rural family practice on the Gulf Coast and has won several media accolades and was a MacArthur Fellow:

Benjamin is skilled, as well, in translating research on preventive health measures into accessible, community-based interventions to decrease the disease burdens of her diverse patient base, which includes immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, who comprise a third of Bayou La Batre’s population. A committed local physician, she also plays key roles statewide and nationally, helping others establish clinics in remote areas of the country and serving in leadership positions in such health-related organizations as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. With a deep, firsthand knowledge of the pressing needs and health disparities afflicting rural, high-poverty communities, Benjamin is ensuring that the most vulnerable among us have access to high-quality care.

She was the first African-American woman on the American Medical Association's board of trustees when she was elected to the post in 1995.