Dr. Richard Carmona is the 17th Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, appointed by George W. Bush in 2002. What preceded his tenure in this highly important position, was a storied life of multiple careers spanning many decades. He was born on November 22nd, 1949, in New York City. Raised in the Spanish Harlem neighborhood, Carmona’s family was from Puerto Rico, and with very little wealth, his childhood would be defined by struggle, as his family endured homelessness, hunger, and the health disparities all too common to poor families in the United States.
Once he came of age in 1967, Richard Carmona dropped out of high school to enlist in the U.S. Army. He received his Army General Equivalency Diploma, the first iteration of the GED which was created in 1942 to help Americans join the armed forces, and with it, he was able to join the Army’s Special Forces. He would be deployed to Vietnam, where he would see combat and become a highly decorated veteran. Once returning from active duty, he returned to New York, and with his veteran status, he was able to attend Bronx Community College, earning his associate of arts degree. Following his associate’s degree, Carmona went across the country to attend the University of California, San Francisco, where he would receive his Bachelor of Science degree in 1977. He would then attend the University of California’s Medical School, where he would not only graduate with his medical degree, but with the gold-headed cane award as the school’s top graduate of his year. The gold-headed cane award is specifically given to graduates who exemplify the qualities of a “true physician.”
In one decade, Dr. Richard Carmona had dropped out of high school, gone half way around the world and back again, and come out the other side with not one, but three degrees and an entirely new career. His next step would be a fellowship with the National Institutes of Health, focused on trauma, burns, and critical care. After a string of educational achievements, Carmona found himself landing in Arizona, being recruited by the Tucson Medical Center and the University of Arizona to create and oversee the state’s first regional trauma care system. While in this position, Dr. Richard Carmona would also be named the chairman of the State of Arizona Southern Regional Emergency Medical System, and serve as a professor of surgery, public health, and family and community medicine at the University of Arizona. He also became the Pima County Sheriff’s Department surgeon and deputy sheriff, and became a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Carmona would serve for over 34 years with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, and over that impressive span of time, would become more and more interested in public health, as a realization was spurned in him. He was struck by how clearly most of his patients’ illnesses and injuries were preventable; they were receiving reactionary care, when they should have been receiving preventative care.
In 2002, Dr. Richard Carmona received his chance to make change on a national level. President George W. Bush had nominated him to be the 17th Surgeon General of the United States, praising his experience with emergency management, bioterrorism, and law enforcement. Carmona was taking on a position of immense magnitude in the midst of a freshly post 9/11 world. As Surgeon General, he made particular focus on preventative care, health disparities, and health literacy. His tenure with the position is often remembered for his landmark report about the dangers of second-hand smoke.
In 2006, Dr. Richard Carmona completed his statutory four-year term as Surgeon General. He was the second person of Puerto Rican heritage to take on the role, and the first male Latino. His contributions to preventative care and the ever-changing national health perspective in the United States cannot be doubted, and we applaud Dr. Carmona’s attention to preventative care and health literacy.
References:
– Klein, Joan. Richard Carmona: A Surgeon General for Troubled Times. Emergency Medicine News 25(11):p 38, November 2003. https://journals.lww.com/em-news/fulltext/2003/11000/richard_carmona__a_surgeon_general_for_troubled.21.aspx
– “Carmona, Richard: 1949—: U.S. Surgeon General .” Contemporary Hispanic Biography. . Encyclopedia.com. (August 16, 2024). https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/carmona-richard-1949-us-surgeon-general
– “Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona […]” George W. Bush, White House Archives. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/carmona-bio.html
– “Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H, FACS” Richard H. Carmona Biography. Darmouth College. https://home.dartmouth.edu/sites/home/files/2023-09/Carmona.pdf
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