Monday, July 13, 2009

Surgeon General and Scientists






Dr. Regina Benjamin is the new Surgeon General, as picked by President Obama. Here are some facts about her and her practice that stuck out to me as inspiring and most excellent.



"When people couldn't pay, she didn't charge them," Obama said. "When the clinic wasn't making money, she didn't take a salary for herself."



Like many of her patients, the clinic has suffered its own life-threatening challenges. It was heavily damaged by Hurricane Georges in 1998 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It also burned to the ground several years ago. But Benjamin rebuilt it after each setback and has continued to offer medical care to the village's 2,500 residents.



For more about the role of the Surgeon General in the United States, who often is the face and first line of defense of public health, click here.



Peeped here and here.

I am in admiration whenever I encounter a woman scientist or doctor, especially a black woman scientist (because I rarely see black woman scientists). I secretly want to go back and get a degree in Biology, but I don't know how realistic or feasible that would be.



Do I have any scientist readers (male or female, any race)? I know BCU is in the science field and if she's reading this, I invite you to comment.



What is your job/career like? What was school like? What is your daily routine at work? Do you enjoy it? Are the hours manageable? Please share!

6 jewels of thought:

Beautifully.Conjured.Up said...

See, this is why I love Obama. You know I'm all for women in science, especially black women because we're very much so underrepresented in this field.

To answer your questions, my job/career (if you want to call it that because I'm still in school) is strictly research all the way. I go in, I read journal articles, I perform tests/experiments...read more articles...figure out what went wrong if the experiment went wrong...communicate with various lead researchers about it. At times it can be boring, but at times it's very exciting (the experiment portion). Undergrad was stressful at times, and frustrating because while your friends were out partying, you were in your room studying. Grad school is different...but still hard at times and stressful.

InnyVinny said...

I love it; a doctor who takes her oath to heart in deed. Love it.

The Jaded NYer said...

I almost went the route BCU did (research science) but a very wise teacher said to me: "those scientists can sometimes work for years and years and not see the results the want. I know you, you don't have the patience for it."

So I switched to Env. Science, which isn't my field now anyway, but was a lot of fun to study.

Oh lord... my geek is showing... let me leave...

kit von b. said...

this is awesome sauce indeed

...but what i wanna know is why your word verification is asking me to type "cobeasts"

its too early for this shit

Gem said...

BCU: I have TONS of questions for you; I think I'll e-mail you.

InnyVinny: YAAASSSS!

Jaded: Wow, Env. Science huh? That's so interesting! I thought you were Creative Writing all the way. Would you ever consider working in that field again?

KB: I choked at "cobeasts"

The Jaded NYer said...

re: returning to the sciences... I would if it was less lab time and more field time

re: writing... I never pursued it as an undergrad because I foolishly considered it a hobby instead of a career choice

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