The Honorable David Shulkin M.D.
Bio
The Honorable Dr. David J. Shulkin is the ninth Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Nominated by President Trump to serve in his Cabinet, Secretary Shulkin was confirmed by the US Senate with a unanimous vote of 100-0. Prior to this role, Dr. Shulkin served as Under Secretary for Health, having been appointed by President Obama and also confirmed unanimously by the US Senate.
In his capacity as Secretary, Dr. David Shulkin represented the 21 million American veterans and oversaw the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system, which includes over 1,200 sites of care serving more than 9 million veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not only the largest provider of graduate medical education in the country but also a major contributor to medical research. Additionally, it offers veterans disability payments, education through the GI Bill, home loans, and manages a national cemetery system.
Before joining the VA, Secretary Shulkin was a highly regarded healthcare executive, serving as chief executive of leading hospitals and health systems, including Beth Israel in New York City and Morristown Medical Center in Northern NJ. He has held numerous physician leadership roles, including Chief Medical Officer at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University Hospital, and the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital. Secretary Shulkin also held academic positions, such as Chairman of Medicine and Vice Dean at Drexel University School of Medicine. As an entrepreneur, he founded and served as Chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality, one of the first consumer-oriented sources for information on quality and safety in healthcare.
Dr. Shulkin is recognized as the University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute Distinguished Health Policy Fellow and is a board-certified internist. He earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, completed his internship at Yale University School of Medicine, and finished his residency and fellowship in General Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center. He also received advanced training in outcomes research and economics as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.
Throughout his career, Secretary Shulkin has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems by Becker’s Hospital Review and as one of the “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in the Country” by Modern Healthcare and Modern Physician. Furthermore, he has been named among the “One Hundred Most Influential People in American Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare.
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