#1 Leadership Chat: Secretary David Shulkin, the ninth Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs

Secretary David Shulkin, the ninth Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, shares insights about his service to two very different Presidents and the current state of public service as he discusses his best selling book, It Shouldn’t Be This Hard To Serve Your Country.

American veterans face a number of challenges in the country today - from chronic homelessness to mental health issues and PTSD to a chaotic and understaffed VA. While technology has evolved to keep up with the needs of the United States military, the same change and care for veterans are often regarded as lagging behind. Dr. David Shulkin, who served as the United States Secretary for Veteran’s Affairs in the Trump Administration from February 2017 until March 2018, and before that as Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health in the Obama Administration, joined us for a candid discussion about the policy and politics of veterans’ affairs.

As Secretary, Dr. David Shulkin represented the 21 million American veterans and was responsible for the nation’s largest integrated health care system with over 1,200 sites of care, serving over 9 million Veterans. Prior to coming to VA, Secretary Shulkin was a widely respected healthcare executive having served as chief executive of leading hospitals and health systems including Beth Israel in New York City and Morristown Medical Center. As an entrepreneur, Secretary Shulkin founded and served as the Chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality and has served on boards of managed care companies, technology companies, and health care organizations.

Secretary Shulkin is the University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute Distinguished Health Policy Fellow and Professor at the Jefferson University College of Population Health. He is a board-certified internist and received advanced training in outcomes research and economics as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Over his career Secretary Shulkin has been named, “One Hundred Most Influential People in American Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare.