WASHINGTON — Richard Carmona, President Bush's candidate for surgeon general, described himself Tuesday as a "people's doctor" who ably managed a trauma center, a hospital and a public health system in Tucson and still had time to moonlight on the sheriff's SWAT team.
Carmona, 52, testifying at his confirmation hearing before a Senate committee, said his nomination as one of the nation's top doctors was the culmination of "my apparently disjointed career paths."
"As I related to my young and very inquisitive daughter, it is as if the fairy godmother reached out and touched me and cast me in the best Disney movie ever made," Carmona said.
Though the 90-minute hearing was cordial, Carmona faced questions about his management skills, style and struggles to become board certified as a surgeon. Several people told The Times that segments of his testimony were misleading.
Carmona, a high school dropout who went on to become a decorated Vietnam War veteran and trauma surgeon, called the job he was nominated for "the ultimate opportunity for public service."
"Of necessity, ... the role of the United States surgeon general has broadened significantly from that of traditional public health responsibilities to now include the expanded leadership role of addressing homeland defense and domestic preparedness," said Carmona, who added that he would focus on prevention, both of disease and of terrorism.
If confirmed as surgeon general, Carmona would wear a uniform and be granted the rank of a three-star admiral in the commissioned public health corps. The position has been highly visible over the years, with occupants of the office such as C. Everett Koop becoming household names and tackling controversial health issues.
But it is a job done largely from the bully pulpit. Although the surgeon general has the 5,600 commissioned officer corps, whose duties range from control of contagious diseases to disaster relief, the office itself has only a small staff and relies almost entirely on the generosity of Congress to fund studies and outreach projects.
Several members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee asked Carmona to explain rocky episodes while a medical administrator and the struggles he had getting board certification. Those were reported in The Times on Monday.
Carmona said he was "disappointed" in the story and attributed the complaints to people from his past who had been unable to put disagreements behind them.
