Indian American Could Be Becoming US Surgeon General, But Some Questions Remain

Sanjay Gupta, born of Indian and Pakistani parents, has been picked up by the incoming Obama administration as its Surgeon General. The post involves overseeing public health. The nomination is currently undergoing the vetting process.

Surgeon Generals are not usually involved in shaping the policies of an administration, but could be useful as campaigners.

Jacob Goldstein of the Wall Street Journal said: There's a certain logic to picking a TV talking head to be surgeon general, because the surgeon general is largely a talking head. The top doc does oversee the 6,000-member Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, but the real work of the job is traveling around the country, using the job as a bully pulpit to advance a public health agenda.

A CNN reporter since 2001, Sanjay Gupta, 39, is the network’s chief medical correspondent providing breaking news, medical reports for “American Morning” and anchoring a weekend program called “House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.”

The Michigan-born Gupta, is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and serves as a neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital. He is also associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Health System, one of the largest public hospitals in the country.

Dr. William Sexson, vice president for pediatrics at Grady, said he hoped that Gupta could bring attention to struggling public hospitals that serve many poor people. “The fact that somebody like him chooses to work at a public hospital - that’s a thing that is so impressive about Sanjay,” Sexson said.