Author: Sara Habibipour
Regina Marcia Benjamin MD, MBA served as the 18th US Surgeon General from 2009 to 2013 after being appointed by President Barack Obama. During her service, she also served as the first chair of the National Prevention Council. This group was responsible for creating the National Prevention Strategy which outlined plans to improve health and well being in the United States.
However, these were not her only achievements. Long before she was appointed surgeon general, Dr. Benjamin worked closely with Southern rural communities. She is the founder and CEO of BayouClinic in Bayou La Batre, Louisiana, which provides clinical care, social services, and health education to residents of the area.
Dr. Benjamin has had many interesting experiences throughout her career, as well. While completing her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Xavier University in New Orleans, she served as a student intern-trainee for the Central Intelligence Agency. After earning her medical degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1984, she served her internship and residency in family practice at the Medical Center of Central Georgia at Macon. From 1990 to 1995 she was a medical director at several nursing homes, and in 1993 she went on a medical mission to Honduras.
Sources:
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/celebrating-10-african-american-medical-pioneers https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_31.html