Former Army White House physician turns expert in telehealth care

The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast welcomes special guest Dr. Jennifer Peña, who is board certified in internal medicine, a U.S. Army veteran, a former physician in the White House Medical Unit under both the Obama and Trump administrations, and an expert in digital and telehealth.

With a long family history of military service, Peña joined the Army after graduating from Yale University as a pathway to medical school. Her residency at Walter Reed followed by active-duty service opened her eyes to the fact that “you train for your career at the same time you train for your profession. It’s a wonderful experience that civilian physicians don’t get a chance to do,” she said.

The opportunity to practice medicine while serving in the military is an opportunity Peña, who is from Puerto Rico, had because of her family history of service. But that’s not the case for everyone, and Peña has been voicing her experience to change that.

“For me as a Latino woman, having grown up in Puerto Rico we are still a little bit more sheltered in these experiences and with these potential opportunities, you have to see one in order to believe that you can be one,” said Peña, who became part of a recruiting initiative to speak to prospective students about what her experience was like. “You can read the information on the website, or you can talk to someone who is actually doing it. We have to do a better job showcasing the representation in the military, in medicine so that we can reach more people.”

Her time serving in the White House Medical Unit was “humbly being at the right place at the right time.” She was nominated to serve as the primary physician for both Vice President Biden and Pence thanks to the care she provided to general officers in the Army, including the first female surgeon general of the Army who nominated her. She went through extensive clearance for the role and recalls “getting a call from a neighbor asking, ‘are you in some sort of trouble?’ Once you get there, it’s definitely worthwhile.”

She not only attended to the vice president in both the Obama and Trump administrations, but their family and staff, as well as military staff at the White House. “It’s a 24/7 job. So you’re on call all the time. It’s a huge responsibility but again very rewarding.” In this episode she shares why humility in that role is key to being successful.

Peña left the military in 2019, moved back to Puerto Rico and transitioned to telehealth care – a practice she has perfected from her time in service and over the last five years, especially during the pandemic.

Peña shares in this podcast episode how telehealth care has grown immensely from acute care to other avenues, such as hospice care. While Peña said not all providers want to take care of patients remotely, “it’s here to stay. We just need to find a way to adapt it to the way we do traditional care in our brick-and-mortar settings. The possibilities are endless, and we’re going to be able to take care of more people and bridge that access to care gap that is ubiquitous around the world.”

Also in the episode, topics include:

·         Shaving the sergeant major of the Army is now a video game.

·         How a veteran-owned gun shop is saving lives.

·         Ways an Army colonel enforces rules on and off the football field.

Check out this week’s episode, which is among more than 200 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.