Benjamin Nominated for Surgeon General
President Obama has nominated Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, to be the next surgeon general of the U.S. Dr. Benjamin, a family physician form rural Bayou La Batre, AL was a member of COLA's board of directors in the mid 1990s.
Dr. Benjamin was the first African American woman to serve on the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association (AMA). She has also served as chair of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs.
She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and serves on the board of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Benjamin is the past chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards and was a recipient of the McArthur Foundation "Genius Award" for her work in providing health care to undeserved populations.
She spends several days a week working at her non-profit clinic in Alabama and also makes house calls to shut-in patients.