On July 13 , Obama announced that he was nominating Regina M . Benjamin , MD , a family physician from southern Alabama , to be surgeon general .
Regina M . Benjamin , MD
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On July 13 , Obama announced that he was nominating <m> Regina M . Benjamin , MD </m> , a family physician from southern Alabama , to be surgeon general .
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Former AMA trustee Dr . Benjamin nominated to be surgeon general
Posted July 20 , 2009
President Obama's choices to be the nation's top physician and top scientist are both hands - on practitioners with extensive leadership experience .
On July 13 , Obama announced that he was nominating <m> Regina M . Benjamin , MD </m> , a family physician from southern Alabama , to be surgeon general .
Dr . Benjamin , 52 , became the first woman and first African - American president of the Medical Assn . of the State of Alabama in 2002 .
She also completed a term in June as chair of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and served on the AMA Board of Trustees from 1995 to 1998 , becoming the first physician under 40 to serve on the board in a non - resident role .
On July 8 , Obama nominated Francis S . Collins , MD , PhD , as director of the National Institutes of Health .
Dr . Collins , 59 , led the Human Genome Project - - an effort to sequence and map human genes , that concluded in 2003 .
He left his position as director of the NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute in 2008 after 15 years but maintains a lab at the NIH's Bethesda , Md . , campus .
Both nominees must first be confirmed by the Senate .
AMA President J . James Rohack , MD , said Dr . Benjamin has an impressive list of accomplishments , including receiving a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008 , commonly known as the "genius grant . "
But awards are not her main focus , he said .
"Dr . Benjamin's most important qualification for surgeon general is her deep commitment to her patients . "
Dr . Benjamin said in the White House Rose Garden announcement that the deaths of close relatives from preventable diseases drove her to focus on public health .
"My father died with diabetes and hypertension .
My older brother , and only sibling , died at age 44 of HIV - related illness .
My mother died of lung cancer , because as a young girl , she wanted to smoke just like her twin brother could . "
Dr . Collins' colleagues said he is a natural choice to head the primary federal agency for funding and conducting medical research because of his thoughtfulness , willingness to listen and experience as a spokesman for the genome mapping effort .
"He's a forceful personality , " said Tom Murray , PhD , head of the Hastings Center , an independent bioethics research institute .
"He wants to hear from people who don't agree with him . "
Patients before profits
If confirmed , Dr . Benjamin would be the nation's lead public health educator .
Fellow physicians see the role as a good fit .
Besides experience with family illnesses , Dr . Benjamin said she also was influenced by her medical school training under David Satcher , MD , PhD , who later became surgeon general , and others who focused on public health issues in underserved areas .
Jorge Alsip , MD , the Alabama medical society's president , said Dr . Benjamin has seen how much patients in poor and rural areas appreciate her help .
"That can't help but affect you and make you want to do something for these people , " said Dr . Alsip , an emergency physician who has known Dr . Benjamin for more than 15 years .
Dr . Alsip also said Dr . Benjamin is tenacious .
"If Regina's in a fight , don't ever bet against her . "
She rebuilt her clinic in Bayou La Batre , Ala . , twice after hurricanes destroyed it and is rebuilding it a third time after a fire .
Obama said his surgeon general pick has personally witnessed how the U . S . health system is broken .
"She's seen an increasing number of patients who've had health insurance their entire lives suddenly lose it because they lost their jobs or because it's simply become too expensive . "
Dr . Benjamin lamented the difficulty some doctors face in caring for patients , regardless of ability to pay .
"It shouldn't be this expensive for Americans to get health care in this country , " she said .
Obama said Dr . Benjamin has forgone a salary when her clinic faced financial hardship .
Jeff Terry , MD , chair of the AMA's Alabama delegation and a urologist , said Dr . Benjamin has proven herself through work in organized medicine and elsewhere .
The two co - founded the young physicians section of the state medical society nearly two decades ago .
Since then , she has held leadership positions in physician organizations and other groups .
Dr . Benjamin is also probably more politically liberal than many physicians on Alabama's Gulf Coast , Dr . Terry said .
"Maybe President Obama saw a little of that in her . "
Both scientific and religious
Obama lauded Dr . Collins' experience in the July 8 announcement .
"Dr . Collins is one of the top scientists in the world , and his groundbreaking work has changed the very ways we consider our health and examine disease . "
Dr . Collins' laboratory discovered several important genes , including those responsible for cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease .
Acquaintances and colleagues predicted that Dr . Collins would do a good job representing NIH in front of lawmakers and others .
He is a very approachable person who doesn't rely on jargon to communicate , said Sean B . Tipton , spokesman for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine .
"He has an ability to interact with the public and with policymakers and the press that I think will serve him very well as an NIH director . "
The Hastings Center's Murray said that if Dr . Collins ever made a mistake , it may be that he was a bit overly enthusiastic when describing the potential for breakthroughs when he was leading the Human Genome Project .
Still , "I can't fault the scientist who really believes in their work for being enthusiastic as they talk to Congress , " Murray said .
Dr . Collins has garnered attention by professing that his belief in God can coexist with his pursuit of science .
He's written books on the topic , including the 2007 best - seller The Language of God : A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief .
He is also founder and president of the BioLogos Foundation , whose purpose is to find compatibility between the scientific and religious searches for truth .
In an interview with the spiritual Web site Beliefnet in 2007 , Dr . Collins said Christians who reject scientific evolutionary theory are also rejecting humans' ability to understand , a God - given skill .
But there are limits to the questions science can answer , such as why we are here or what happens after death , he said .
William Hurlbut , MD , a consulting professor of neuroscience at Stanford University and a former member of President George W . Bush's Council on Bioethics , said the idea that science and religion can't coexist is ridiculous .
"A person with Francis' background is a very wise choice" for NIH chief , he said .