Presidency part of service for Alabama doctor

Regina Benjamin, MD, becomes the first African-American woman to head the state's medical society.

By Damon Adams, amednews staff. Sept. 16, 2002.

Little Bayou La Batre didn't stand a chance against the fury of Hurricane Georges.

When the storm struck the fishing village on Alabama's Gulf Coast in September 1998, water flooded streets and washed into homes. The Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic wasn't immune to the devastation.

Region: South

"We got five feet of storm surge. We lost everything," said Regina Benjamin, MD, a family physician who runs the clinic that treats shrimpers, factory workers and others who eke out a living in the town of 2,500.

Medical equipment and computers were gone, but hope survived.

Dr. Benjamin continued to see patients, mostly by making house calls in her 1988 Ford pickup. She rebuilt the clinic nearby, and today it stands as a testimony of her commitment to care for the people of Bayou La Batre.

The doctor's compassion, ambition and determination have served her well in this rural town and beyond.

In June, Dr. Benjamin, 45, was installed as president of the Medical Assn. of the State of Alabama -- making her the first woman and first African-American to be president of the state medical association, which years ago kept out minorities.

She is associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile. She is a member of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. In 1995, she became the first African-American woman elected to the AMA Board of Trustees when she was the first physician to fill the board's spot for a young physician trustee.

"I enjoy what I do. It's not like work. It's fun," she said.

Her efforts haven't gone unnoticed. When she was 38, Time magazine listed her as one of the "Nation's 50 Future Leaders Age 40 and Under." The Caring Institute gave her a National Caring Award in 2000.

"She's friendly and she's outgoing. Every time I go to see her, she wants to know about my family," said patient Margaret Johnson.

Colleagues and patients describe her as a tireless doctor who has a small-town personal touch with patients and a big picture view of medical issues that face the nation.

"She has that gift of being able to talk to a CEO in New York or a shrimper in the clinic. There aren't too many people who can do that well," said Bill Curry, MD, who was among those who nominated her to be president of the state medical association and is dean of the College of Community Health Sciences at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Growing up in Daphne, Ala., Dr. Benjamin didn't initially seek out a career as a doctor. She considered becoming an international lawyer.

"I didn't know what I wanted to be. It just sounded good," she recalled.

Dr. Benjamin went to college at Xavier University in New Orleans, where she met a black physician for the first time. She decided to enter medical school at the Morehouse School of Medicine, then went to the University of Alabama School of Medicine, where she earned her medical degree.

While in school, she signed up with the National Health Service Corps, which helps pay tuition in exchange for work in underserved areas. She fulfilled her obligation by practicing medicine for 21/2 years in Irvington.

Dr. Benjamin wanted to stay in the area and in 1990 opened her practice in nearby Bayou La Batre, where her patient load includes whites, blacks, Vietnamese and Cambodians.

"What I like best are the hugs and the smiles that the patients give you. They're real genuine people who appreciate our being here, and I appreciate them," she said.

She hasn't taken a salary at the clinic, relying instead on income from working in emergency departments and, now, from her university job. She treats patients regardless of their ability to pay.

"If they don't have money to buy food, I can at least see them," Dr. Benjamin said.

As president of the Alabama association, she hopes to address issues such as Medicaid funding and medical liability insurance. And she hopes to encourage minorities to pursue medical careers.

"I've seen things change over time, particularly in my state. We've progressed tremendously," she said. "Younger people can say, 'Yes, I'm a black person and I can become a doctor.' "

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