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Faculty Highlights: Ryung Suh, MD (Dept. of Healthcare Management and Policy)

Background

Ryung Suh, MD, is an Associate Professor and former Chair of the Department of Health Management and Policy at Georgetown. He teaches on business innovations, health system management, public policy, and leadership. Dr. Suh received his B.S. in Chemistry from the United States Military Academy. He completed his medical, public policy, and business management graduate studies at Georgetown University and his public health graduate studies at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University, with additional studies at the Yonsei University School of International Studies and Trinity College, Oxford University. He received an honorary doctorate from the Centro Universitário Dinâmica Das Cataratas in Brazil and previously served as a Senior Fellow for NORC at the University of Chicago. He is the President-Elect of the American College of Preventive Medicine.

Involvement in Research

Dr. Suh currently serves as Chief of Staff of the Veterans Health Administration, the largest integrated health care delivery system in the nation with over 400,000 employees. He also leads the Aegis Lab and Fund, an incubator lab and social impact fund. Prior to these roles, Dr. Suh founded a health care management consultancy leading major transformation efforts for federal health agencies, directed public and private sector enterprise-level modernization and organizational change initiatives, managed a commercial consulting practice serving the life sciences industry, and launched over a dozen successful businesses that have served government and private industry clients. Early in his academic career, he was involved in health services research with a focus on health insurance reform, workforce policy, pharmacoeconomics, electronic health records, rural health, economic evaluation of disease management programs, and health care innovation.

Inspiration

He says that a long and diverse career has inspired multiple interest areas in both research and practice, with his military service being the most formative. Colonel (retired) Suh served as an infantry and medical corps officer for 26 years in the United States Army with a diverse set of operational, special operations, and military health system responsibilities. He is a combat Veteran who served as a Task Force Surgeon during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, and served with 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), 75th Ranger Regiment, 5th Infantry Regiment, Joint Task Force Bravo, 10th Mountain Division, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 450th Civil Affairs (Airborne), and other units and has had multiple overseas deployments throughout his Army career. His military qualifications include airborne, ranger, jumpmaster, and flight surgeon. These experiences afforded him the opportunity to intersect with multiple industries and diverse scholarly pursuits.

Reflection

Reflecting on his journey, Dr. Suh notes that he doesn’t consider himself a researcher although he has engaged in extensive funded research projects and has presented extensively at national and international conferences. He has always been a practitioner and leader—in the military, in business, and in health care. He considers himself an explorer, moving from industry to industry and discipline to discipline. He likes to build organizations and to focus on getting things done. On the way, he may dive deeper into an issue area, primarily to learn more and to share what he has learned in a useful way. He enjoys teaching, to share both his knowledge and the experiences he has gained at the nexus of clinical care, business strategy and operations, and health care management and policy. It is hard to pigeon-hole Dr. Suh into one category or label, and he likes it that way.

Advice for Students

Dr. Suh reminds us that meaning in life derives from being purposeful and having a sense of belonging. We may feel drawn to research or to practice, but we shouldn’t let others define the rigid boundaries for one or the other. We should do what feels most purposeful to us, and we should pay particular attention to the relationships and friendships we make along the way. We also want to feel like there is more to life than just ourselves, so we should be open to helping others and to serving the common good whenever the opportunities present themselves. One of the best parts of the Georgetown experience is the connection to its core values, to utilize our holistic approach to learning and our rigorous spirit of inquiry to become a force for positive change in the world. There is great adventure ahead for those who are open to it!