Jerome Adams
Jerome Michael Adams[3] (born September 22, 1974) is an American anesthesiologist and a former vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the 20th surgeon general of the United States from September 5, 2017, until January 20, 2021. Prior to becoming Surgeon General, he served as the Indiana state health commissioner, from 2014 to 2017.
Jerome Adams
On June 29, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Adams to become Surgeon General of the United States.[4][5] Adams was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 2017.[6] Adams' tenure as Surgeon General coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
Early life and education[edit]
Adams is the son of Richard and Edrena Adams of Mechanicsville, Maryland, and grew up on the family farm. He attended Chopticon High School, graduating in 1992, in the top 5% of his class.[8] He then attended the University of Maryland Baltimore County through a full-tuition Meyerhoff Scholarship, a grant dedicated to minority students interested in the sciences.[9] Adams received his Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and his Bachelor of Arts in biopsychology. Additionally, Adams studied abroad in the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.[10]
Adams attended medical school at Indiana University School of Medicine as an Eli Lilly and Company Scholar.[9] He also received a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000, with a focus on chronic disease prevention.[11] Adams completed his internship in internal medicine (2002–2003) at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital and his residency in anesthesiology (2003–2006) at Indiana University. He is board certified in anesthesiology.[12]
Career[edit]
Private practice and academia[edit]
After two years in private practice at Ball Memorial Hospital,[13][14] Adams was named assistant professor of anesthesiology at Indiana University.[15][16] He has written several academic papers and book chapters, including chapters in Anesthesia Student Survival Guide: A Case-based Approach,[17] and an editorial in the American Journal of Public Health, "Are Pain Management Questions in Patient Satisfaction Surveys Driving the Opioid Epidemic?"[18]
Indiana state health commissioner[edit]
In October 2014, Adams was appointed Indiana state health commissioner. He was originally appointed by Governor Mike Pence and re-appointed by newly elected governor Eric Holcomb in 2017.[19] In this role, he oversaw the Public Health Protection and Laboratory Services, Health and Human Services, Health Care Quality and Regulatory, and Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Commissions. He also served as Secretary of Indiana State Department of Health's executive board, as Chairman of the Indiana State Trauma Care Committee, as President of the Healthy Hoosier Foundation, and as co-chairman of the Indiana Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative Governing Council.[15] During an HIV epidemic in 2015, Adams initially opposed needle-exchange programs on "moral" grounds, but he later changed his position as cases continued to mount.[20]