gratification , and it allowed me to do something with my hands . Where I come from in rural Kentucky , surgeons were awesome . They are the toughest , do-it-all workhorses , and it seemed like they never took a break . They did everything . When I imagined myself as a physician , I imagined myself as the do-it-all physician who was a one-stop shop .”
After three years in his general surgery training , he considered going into a subspeciality and decided to take some time off to pursue a PhD . Weeks before he was set to start his PhD , he realized that the reality of working alone in a lab was not for him . Unfortunately , his position in the surgery program had been filled for the year .
“ At the time , Dr . Hiram Polk was Commissioner of Health and Chief Medical Officer for the state and a mentor . We talked , and he invited me to come work for him as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of Public Health and allowed me to take on a lot of responsibilities .”
At the same time , he got his MPH degree from Harvard and his MBA from Northern Kentucky University . Just a few months into his new role , the former Governor asked Dr . Howard to serve as Interim Commissioner of Public Health and Chief Medical Officer for Kentucky . After his team delivered on some long-outstanding projects , he was awarded the position . At 29 years old , he was the youngest state health official in the country and the youngest person in Kentucky to hold this office . He spent two great years in this role , but knew he wanted to get back to finish his residency .
However , in 2018 , the legislature announced plans for pension reform which would bankrupt health departments , he said , and he requested a third year off to help address those issues . It ended up only taking about six months , and he needed to look for a new role . Soon after , he was connected to the White House Fellowship program . The White House Fellowship is a non-partisan leadership program designed to give highly competitive and successful mid-to early-career Americans the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in the process of governing the nation . Through this , he served as Health Policy Advisor to the former Vice President .
“ I was there through COVID-19 . There were a lot of very influential people who had a lot of ideas about what was going to cure COVID-19 or what the next strategy response was going to be . My job was to vet those out and see if they made sense and for the ones that made sense , get those to the task force and work through the governmental process quickly . It was an unbelievable experience ,” he said . “ Talk about right place , right time . I was a physician who happened to be a public health expert and had just spent two years leading a public health organization . I saw it as not just an opportunity to do something that looks good on your resume , but also a way to serve our country in a time of need . It was an absolute blast , but it was a whirlwind .”
In 2020 , he returned to his surgical training at UofL . He was approached by Dr . Sarah Moyer , then-Chief Health Strategist and Director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health , to
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