Donald Trump has announced that Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a graduate of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, will be his surgeon general nominee.
Dr. Nesheiwat began her medical journey at the University of South Florida, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2000. Following her time in the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, she pursued her medical degree at the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in 2009. In addition to her medical practice, Dr. Nesheiwat is a Fox News medical contributor and entrepreneur who owns a vitamin company.
Her nomination invites comparisons to the current surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy. Dr. Murthy holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard, an MD from the Yale School of Medicine, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He co-founded VISIONS, a global HIV/AIDS education association, and the Swasthya Project, a rural health coalition in South India that trained women as community health workers and educators.
Critics may scrutinize Dr. Nesheiwat’s medical education. Caribbean medical schools often have more flexible admissions standards than U.S.-based institutions. A 2021 piece in The New York Times noted that many Caribbean schools do not require Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores for admission and have significantly higher acceptance rates than American schools.
Despite this observation, Dr. Nesheiwat is a board-certified physician with a diverse medical career. As surgeon general, she would lead the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), overseeing 6,000 officers dedicated to protecting and promoting public health nationwide.
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