WASHINGTON  Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical reporter, is the leading contender to become the next surgeon general, a pick that will give the moribund office a higher profile but one that has received a mixed reaction among public health advocates.
CNN confirmed Tuesday that Dr. Gupta had been approached by the Obama transition team and discussed the job with President-elect Barack Obama late last year in Chicago. Dr. Gupta did not respond to an e-mail message seeking comment.
According to people at CNN and in the Obama transition team, Dr. Gupta is likely to make a decision about taking the job within a few days. News of his selection was first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post.
Dr. Gupta presides over a small media empire that, in addition to his regular work on CNN, includes appearances on the “CBS Evening News” and columns in Time magazine. His first book, about the search for immortality, was published in 2007. He is paid for speaking engagements, a controversial practice for a journalist. The All American Talent and Celebrity Network lists his speaking fees as $30,001 to $50,000.
United States president-elect Barack Obama has chosen Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a medical correspondent from the American television station CNN, to be the next United States Surgeon General. Gupta, also a neurosurgeon, was reported to be chosen because of his background in broadcasting and skills in communication. He is currently the host of ''House Call'', a program on CNN, a columnist for ''Time Magazine'', a contributor to CBS News, and also a part time worker at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He will likely leave all of these positions to serve as US Surgeon General.

Dr. Joseph Heyman of the American Medical Association supported Gupta, stating "If chosen, Dr. Gupta's communication skills and medical knowledge could be a boon to the new administration's health system reform efforts." Conversely, Doctors Steven Woloshin and Lisa Schwartz from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice stated that the next Surgeon General would need to "...demonstrate skills that are too often missing in medical news on TV: skepticism about the science and a careful analysis of both the benefits and harms of medical care."

According to reports by sources close to the discussions, Gupta met with Barack Obama on November 25 in Chicago to discuss the position. He later met with several advisors to the president-elect, including Thomas A. Daschle of the US Department of Health and Human Services. He was reported to tell Obama that he wanted the Surgeon General position. Gupta declined to comment about the situation yesterday, but did state that he plans to accept Obama's choice.