Perhaps it’s the combination of equal parts professional ambition, dedication and down-home charm that resonated with President Obama when he nominated Dr. Regina Benjamin, 52, to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. After all, Benjamin’s rise to medical power has the same feel-good storyline that helped Obama get elected. Her father died with hypertension and diabetes, and her mother, who Benjamin said wanted to “smoke just like her twin brother did,” died of lung cancer.
From these personal experiences emerge Benjamin and her efforts to stop these same preventable illnesses from harming one small town in the Deep South. Benjamin founded the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama — a small commercial fishing village just off the Mississippi Sound. The patients include locals who have limited access to medical care, but at the clinic, they receive primary care regardless of their ability to pay. Even after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the facility (the second hurricane to do so since it was first constructed), Benjamin continued her practice, driving to her patients’ homes while the building was reconstructed.
Many praise her for her dedication to the clinic, but Benjamin has also dedicated time outside of the clinic to advance her professional career. Her achievements are nationally recognized. In 1995, Benjamin made the medical history books when she became the first African-American woman and physician under age 40 to get elected to the American Medical Association’s board of trustees. And in 2008, Benjamin was one of 25 named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, a prestigious award with a $500,000 stipend, given to talented leaders to pursue their ambitions.
WATCH DR. BENJAMIN DISCUSS HER PERSONAL COMMITMENT TO CHAMPIONING PUBLIC HEALTH:
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While she has her fair share of fans, Benjamin has faced criticism over her physical size. Some question whether “America’s doctor” should be struggling to control her weight. In a recent ABC News interview, Benjamin responded to her critics.
“I’m just like 67 percent of Americans. I struggle with my weight, just like they do, so I understand,” she said. “I want to have them help me, and I will help them, and we’ll work together to try to, to become a healthier nation.”
As U.S. Surgeon General, Benjamin has said she will work to make sure “no one falls through the cracks” in America’s health care system. And if her promises and accolades aren’t enough, she has the backing of some big wigs in the medical community.
“If the president was looking for someone that has a can-do spirit, that doesn’t quit when times get tough, and serves as a role model for minorities, I couldn’t think of anyone outside of Regina Benjamin that would fit that mold,” said J. James Rohack, MD, president of the American Medical Association.