Now even Barack Obama is paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The neurosurgeon who is chief medical correspondent for CNN and CBS may be tapped by the president-elect to become the surgeon general in the new administration.

Mr. Gupta is known to millions as the host of the popular CNN program "House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta." With a telegenic and reassuring manner, he is able to explain the most complex medical concepts in ways lay people can understand. Despite a back-breaking television and speaking schedule, Mr. Gupta also is a practicing neurosurgeon and a member of the faculty at Emory University.

Ironically, becoming the nation's surgeon general may be the only way to slow Mr. Gupta down. In that office, he would have a bully pulpit larger than anything a television show could provide.

Mr. Gupta's role as the nation's chief doctor would be more than symbolic. He could help the new administration craft its policy on health care reform. Some of the advising would be nothing new for Mr. Gupta. In the 1990s, he worked closely with Hillary Clinton on health care as a White House fellow.

Given Mr. Gupta's effectiveness as a communicator, he could become a higher-profile surgeon general than C. Everett Koop in the 1980s. While Mr. Koop made headlines with his anti-smoking campaign, Mr. Gupta is likely to crusade on other health threats, like the escalating rates of obesity and diabetes.

If Sanjay Gupta can get Americans to take preventive steps to safeguard their health, he will have been an inspired pick.