Regina Benjamin once served as intern for CIA - al.com

Regina Benjamin once served as intern for CIA - al.com: "WASHINGTON — Regina Benjamin, the Bayou La Batre physician whose nomination for U.S. surgeon general breezed through the Senate health committee Wednesday, once interned for the CIA and has more recently served as a paid adviser to packaged food giant ConAgra Foods Inc., according to an interview and her answers on an official questionnaire.

On the questionnaire, released this week by the committee, Benjamin said she was a CIA student intern in 1978-79, a time when she was finishing her chemistry degree at Xavier University in New Orleans and moving on to Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

In a Wednesday phone interview, Benjamin said she landed at the CIA because the agency offered a trip to Washington, D.C., for applicants selected for a second interview. Her stint, which covered a semester and a summer, involved "basically routine" office duties."