From High School Dropout to Surgeon General

By Patricia Salber MD, MBA (@docweighsin)

Dr. Rich Carmona told his story to a crowd of 350 healthcare providers at Xerox’s Midas+ Annual Symposium in May 2016. I was fortunate to be able to spend time with him afterward to learn more about his fascinating life story, including his tenure as Surgeon General.

Rich dropped out because,

“…on my block, if you found a high school graduate, it was a reportable event. Nobody went to high school.”

Born to a poor family that moved from Puerto Rico to New York, Richard Carmona grew up “running the streets” of Harlem. He was often hungry and, at one time, homeless. His teeth were full of cavities because there was no money to send him to a dentist.

In 1967, at the age of 17, he joined the army and was trained as an infantryman. Not satisfied with being just regular infantry, he volunteered for jump school and became a paratrooper. Still not enough of a challenge, he signed up for training in the Special Forces, but there was a snag. To complete his Special Forces training, he needed a high school diploma. This was motivation enough for him to earn his GED from the US Army and become a full-fledged Green Beret.

After his training, he was deployed to Vietnam where he served as a medic and weapons…