Sean Patrick Conley (born 1980) is an American physician and United States Navy officer who served as the Physician to the President from 2018 to 2021. Conley served as physician to president Donald Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic, often serving as the president's medical advisor, and treating the president when he tested positive for COVID-19.
Early life and education
Conley, born in 1980 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, graduated from Central Bucks High School East in 1998 and received his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2002.
Conley received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2006. He is a 2013 graduate of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Virginia. He received the Honor Graduate Award, Nurses' Choice Award for Outstanding Senior Resident Award, and the Resident Research Award.
Career
Military service
In 2014, he served as an emergency physician with the International Security Assistance Force at Kandahar International Airport outside the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan. He was assigned to NATO Role 3 MMU, and was appointed head of the trauma department. The unit received a commendation from the Romanian Land Forces for saving the life of a Romanian soldier injured by an improvised explosive device in 2014. He served as the research director at Portsmouth Navy Department of Emergency Medicine prior to his assignment to the White House Medical Unit.
Physician to the President
Conley became the physician to the president upon the nomination of the previous physician, Ronny Jackson, for Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He became the acting White House physician on March 28, 2018, and on May 4, 2018, became the physician to the president.
On May 18, 2020, President Donald Trump surprised listeners when he revealed he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against COVID-19. He confirmed that he was taking it under the guidance of Conley, who later issued a confirmation. Several medical warnings had been issued against the drug's use for treating COVID-19.
In the early morning of October 2, 2020, the White House announced that President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 after they were tested as a precaution when Trump's top aide, Hope Hicks, tested positive. At first, Trump began self-isolating in the White House, but under the recommendation of Conley, he was transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He drew scrutiny regarding his public assessments of Trump's health during the president's hospitalization. In contradiction to Conley's previous statements surrounding hydroxychloroquine, he released a statement to White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany that he had decided to place Trump under an antiviral therapy, specifically remdesivir. Conley described Trump's symptoms on the day of the announcement as "fatigued but in good spirits". Conley incorrectly identified a Regeneron product of monoclonal antibodies as a polyclonal antibody cocktail in a press release. Later, he updated Trump's symptoms as "nasal congestion and a cough and fatigue." With regard to the first lady, Conley described her as "well with only a mild cough and headache."
On the morning of October 3, Conley gave a press briefing regarding Trump's health, stating that he and his team of physicians were "extremely happy" with the president's condition, and noting that most of the president's symptoms had subsided. However, Conley stated that Trump was "72 hours into this diagnosis" which implied that Trump had attended a rally in Minnesota, knowing he was a potential COVID-19 vector at the time. The 72 hour remark was quickly corrected by a press release indicating that the president was diagnosed the evening of October 1.
On the evening of October 3, Conley warned that Trump was "not yet out of the woods" with regard to his condition.