The National Medical Association praised President Barack Obama’s appointee for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. At the NMA 2009 Convention and Scientific Assembly in Las Vegas, colleagues lauded Benjamin as an indefatigable advocate for preventative medicine and for providing comprehensive healthcare to poor and underserved communities in rural Alabama. Among her many distinctions and awards, Benjamin, 52, was chosen as a MacArthur Fellow in 2008. Benjamin also became the American Medical Association’s first African American to be elected to its board of trustees as well as the first person under 40 to have the distinction. –terry shropshire
Dr. Carolyn Barley Britton,
President,
National Medical Association:
“I think she’s terrific. She’s in the NMA and she’s in the AMA. The NMA collaborates with the AMA. Regina Benjamin is one of those kind physicians. She’s absolutely terrific. She’s down there in Alabama [where] she set up a clinic for people with no money, no insurance, under insured — the whole nine yards. They get grants and everything to take care of them. She’s very highly regarded. She’s well traveled. If anyone can take care of the needs of poor people and rural care, I think she’ll be a great messenger for health and healthcare.
Dr. Otis Brawley,
Chief Medical Officer,
American Cancer Society:
“She seems to be a very qualified individual. She clearly understands what the issues are and the issues that doctors face and what patients face. So I’m very hopeful for her service as surgeon general.”
Dr. Andewale Troutman, Director,
Department of Health, University of Kentucky:
“What it says to me [is that] the direction is going to be focused on clinical medicine and access to care. … The person who was named was a public health service physician who went to medical school on a scholarship program. [Hers is] a great story. But its all about clinical medicine which is extremely important. Particularly if they would go back to he original formulation of federally qualified health centers, which was by definition holistic. I think that picking this particular individual suggests that may be the direction that they may be looking at.”
National Vice President,
Office of Health Disparities, American Cancer Society:
“I couldn’t have asked for a better surgeon. She is clearly committed to prevention and early detection, which is what we need … She has the free clinic in rural Alabama. I mean her heart is clearly in the right place. She has been committed to helping the underserved forever. I think it’ll be a tough job. But everything she said sounded great. It’s clear that she’s got the backing and support of the president who is committed to prevention.”
