We know, we know, you were still kinda hoping for Sanjay Gupta, but he bowed out of the running months ago. So instead, President Obama has invited Alabama physician Regina Benjamin to move to Washington and become the new Surgeon General. Benjamin may not have her own TV show, but she was the first black woman to head the State of Alabama Medical Association, and she served as associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama's College of Medicine, so she's probably not sweating it either. If Benjamin's name sounds familiar, it might be because you heard this NPR story about her mission to rebuild the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic after Hurricane Katrina. Her efforts earned her one of those fancy MacArthur Foundation "genius" grants. Benjamin will now face Senate confirmation. 
Regina Benjamin
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A female and a minority....yawn. So George HW Bush.
An uninformed comment...yawn. So GWB.
From what I've heard from people who know and know of her, she's pretty stellar.
My point was that the first female and first minority Surgeon General was Antonia Novello, appointed by George HW Bush.
Dr. Novello was also the first Surgeon General from a US Territory (Puerto Rico).
Of course, the second female Surgeon General was Jocelyn Elders. Appointed, and then cut loose by Clinton after she dared to suggest that people actually masturbated.
Yeah, but Dr. Benjamin is the first Surgeon General from a Muslim country, Al-Abama.
Sorry, hillvada, I didn't mean to offend if you were only offering up a historical perspective on Surgeon General nominees. As phrased your comment seemed insulting to me, and I'd hate to see someone with such an amazing track record reduced to being a stat based on race and sex.
Besides, she's hawt!
And the question will be how she'll use her pulpit. There's something great in recent years about Surgeon General appointees by Democrats. They actually use use their office to push public health as opposed to their counterparts appointed by Republicans. Koop was an obvious exception...
Novello was essentially squelched following Koop. They wanted someone to follow the party line and keep a low profile. Koop, an nice family physician, really upset the WH over how he stood up and addressed AIDS. We all know how Elders used her role as SG. Controversial or not, she was one hell of a speaker. Souter following her was a sharp thorn in the Bush Administration's side.
I'm hoping Benjamin uses her experience and knowledge of health disparities to get back in the fight and actually do her job. This is a GREAT appointment!
Dr. Benjamin seems like the kind of bright, dedicated, compassionate health professional we want as a Surgeon General, let's just hope she's paid her taxes.
And let's hope someone has warned her that immediately following her confirmation, she can expect Mark Plotkin to push his way to the front and badger her on District voting representation.