David Jonathan Shulkin was born on July 22, 1959, in Highland Park, Illinois, at the Fort Sheridan Army base, and he grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia. He received a BA from Hampshire College in 1982 and an MD from Medical College of Pennsylvania (now Drexel University) in 1986. He completed his medical internship at Yale School of Medicine and his residency at the University of Pittsburgh.

Shulkin began his career at the University of Pennsylvania, serving as chief medical officer for that health system from 1991 to 1999. Beginning in 2002, he directed many hospitals and health care facilities, including the Drexel University College of Medicine, Temple University Hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center, and the Morristown Medical Center.

He transitioned into the public sector in 2015, when he served as the Undersecretary for Veterans Affairs for Health under the administration of President Barrack Obama. In this position, he focused on improving the VA’s healthcare system with initiatives such as instituting telehealth services, using data analytics to make patient care more efficient, and expanding collaboration with the private healthcare sector.

President Donald Trump nominated Shulkin to serve as the 9th Secretary of Veterans Affairs on January 11, 2017. The US Senate unanimously confirmed him on February 13, 2017, and he became the first non-veteran to hold the position. President Trump announced on Twitter that Secretary Shulkin would be replaced on March 28, 2018.