Before Dr. Benjamin was "Top Doc"

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WALA) - Alabama native Dr. Regina Benjamin is officially the nation's surgeon general. But before that, Benjamin was a news reporter in grade school.

1975 was the year Benjamin graduated from Fairhope High School.

Creston Washington played basketball for the school, and remembers her well.

"You know everybody had a nickname, but Regina was the exception ,and if she had a nickname it was probably something like 'Smarty' because she was so smart," said Washington, "She's got that upright model walk to her. She is very poised. Her posture is great. And it was like that in junior high."

Benjamin was an all-star student. She was a reporter for the Pirate newspaper, member of the Journalism Honor Society, Foreign Exchange Club, National Honor Society, and participated in Baldwin County's Junior Miss Program.

During the time when schools were integrating, Butch Hedgepath was also one of her classmates.

"I was getting chills whenever I heard she was nominated to be surgeon general," said Hedgepath, "She was a wonderful person from the time in the fifth grade until we parted in 75."

Her classmates say they definitely could see this little girl turning into America's doctor.

More facts about Dr. Benjamin from the U.S. Office of the Surgeon General

About her new job

Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A. is the 18th Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service. As America's Doctor, she provides the public with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and the health of the nation. Dr. Benjamin also oversees the operational command of 6,500 uniformed health officers who serve in locations around the world to promote, protect, and advance the health of the American People.

The duties of the Surgeon General are to:

• Protect and advance the health of the Nation through educating the public, advocating for effective disease prevention and health promotion programs and activities, and providing a highly recognized symbol of national commitment to protecting and improving the public's health.

• Articulate scientifically based health policy analysis and advice to the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the full range of critical public health, medical, and health system issues facing the Nation.

• Provide leadership in promoting special Departmental health initiatives, e.g., tobacco and HIV prevention efforts, with other governmental and non-governmental entities, both domestically and internationally.

• Administer the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps, which is a uniquely expert, diverse, flexible, and committed career force of public health professionals who can respond to both current and long-term health needs of the Nation.

• Provide leadership and management oversight for PHS Commissioned Corps involvement in Departmental emergency preparedness and response activities.

• Elevate the quality of public health practice in the professional disciplines through the advancement of appropriate standards and research priorities.

• Fulfill statutory and customary Departmental representational functions on a wide variety of Federal boards and governing bodies of non-Federal health organizations, including the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the National Library of Medicine, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and the American Medical Association.

Most recent job

Dr. Benjamin is Founder and Former CEO of the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama, former Associate Dean for Rural Health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile, and immediate Past Chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States In 1995, she was the first physician under age 40 and the first African-American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. She served as President of the American Medical Association Education and Research Foundation and Chair of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA). In 2002 she became President of the Medical Association State of Alabama, making her the first African American female president of a State Medical Society in the United States.

Education

Dr. Benjamin has a BS in chemistry from Xavier University, New Orleans; MD degree from the University of Alabama, Birmingham; an MBA from Tulane University and five Honorary Doctorates. She attended Morehouse School of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency in Macon, Ga. She established a clinic in a small fishing village in Alabama to help its uninsured residents. Dr. Benjamin persevered through Hurricane Georges in 1998, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and a devastating fire, in 2006, often putting up her own money to cover expenses. She also became nationally prominent for her business acumen and humane approach to preventive medicine.

Memberships

Dr. Benjamin is a member of the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She was a Kellogg National Fellow and a Rockefeller Next Generation Leader. Some of her numerous board memberships include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Catholic Health Association, and Morehouse School of Medicine.

Awards and recognition

In 1998 Dr Benjamin was the United States recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. She was named by Time Magazine as one of the "Nation's 50 Future Leaders Under Age 40 and Under." She was featured in a New York Times article, "Angel in a White Coat," in People Magazine, on the December 1999 cover of Clarity Magazine and was on the January 2003 cover of Reader's Digest, She was also "Person of the Week" on ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and "Woman of the Year' by CBS This Morning. She received the 2000 National Caring Award which was inspired by Mother Teresa, received the papal honor Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from Pope Benedict XVI and was awarded a MacArthur Genius Award Fellowship.

History of Surgeon General's Office

In 1798, Congress established the U. S. Marine Hospital Service-predecessor of today's U.S. Public Health Service-to provide health care to sick and injured merchant seamen. In 1870, the Marine Hospital Service was reorganized as a national hospital system with centralized administration under a medical officer, the Supervising Surgeon, who was later given the title of Surgeon General.Dr. John Woodworth, was appointed as the first Supervising Surgeon in 1871, and established a cadre of medical personnel to administer the Marine Hospital System. On January 4, 1889, the Congress recognized this new personnel system by formally authorizing the Commissioned Corps. The Corps was established along military lines to be a mobile force of professionals subject to reassignment to meet the needs of the Service. Originally, the Corps was composed only of physicians. However, over the years, as the functional responsibilities of the Public Health Service (PHS) and the Corps have broadened, a commensurate broad range of health professionals has been included.

Prior to 1968, the Surgeon General was the head of the PHS, and all program, administrative, and financial management authorities flowed through the Surgeon General, who reported directly to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1968, pursuant to a reorganization plan issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Secretary delegated line responsibility for the PHS to the Assistant Secretary for Health. The Office of the Surgeon General was abolished and the position of Surgeon General became that of a principal deputy to the Assistant Secretary for Health with responsibility for advising and assisting on professional medical matters. In addition, a primary role developed in which the Surgeon General became the PHS spokesperson on certain health issues. (Note: In 1972, the Surgeon General again became an advisor to the Secretary rather than the ASH. In 1977, the positions of ASH and Surgeon General were combined; in 1981, they were separated again.)

In 1987, the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) was reestablished as a staff office within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. Concomitant with this action, the Surgeon General again became responsible for management of the Commissioned Corps personnel system. (Note: The Surgeon General does not directly supervise all Commissioned Officers; most work in PHS or other agencies and report to line managers of those agencies who may or may not be in the Corps.)

In carrying out all responsibilities, the Surgeon General reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health, who is the principal advisor to the Secretary on public health and scientific issues.
In April 1987, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop launched a major effort to revitalize the Corps. Actions were taken to enhance all aspects of Corps management, including recruitment, especially of women and minorities, assignment, career development, and communication. Special efforts were made to make sure that agencies utilizing officers are actively involved in the formulation and review of policies and procedures related to administration of the Corps.

There currently are more than 6,500 officers on active duty. Officers are assigned to all of the PHS Agencies and to a number of agencies outside of PHS, including the Bureau of Prisons, U. S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, Health Care Financing Administration, and the Commission on Mental Health of the District of Columbia.