Regina BenjaminWe 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.
