U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Leilani Lopes-Haslam, DO ’25, visited the White House in November to interview David O’Connor, DO, who serves as President Joe Biden’s physician. Leilani sat down with Dr. O’Connor on behalf of the Student Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons (SAMOPS) of which she serves as the national PR chair.
Her interview with Dr. O’Connor can be found on the SAMOPS Specialty Spotlights podcast. Highlights of her interview are below:
- Dr. O’Connor credits his military experience and his usage of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) as being key to landing his role at the White House. A friend, Dr. Dan Parks, had asked him to treat someone at the White House, who he assumed was a Secret Service agent, and was surprised to learn the true identity of the patient, recalling, “The patient he had in mind was President Bush and so I met him. Said, ‘Mr. President, how do you do?’ And I said, ‘Get on the table.’ And I put him on a table and beat him up pretty good and he, he appreciated it.”
- Dr. O’Connor is part of a larger medical unit within the White House consisting of about nine doctors, 15 nurses, 15 physician assistants and a number of administrators.
- When Dr. O’Connor was asked to provide advice to current osteopathic medical students and how to survive residency, he jokingly advised, “I would say the Dory Principle: Just keep swimming.” He added, “There’s going to be a point that you [have to] just keep going. You don’t quit! You got to keep going, and if it really sucks, you’re doing it right! You know, if anyone says [they had] an easy residency, they got a terrible residency!”
- In addition, Dr. O’Connor advises the importance of having the right support at home – whether a partner, friend or someone else, “Have a community, even if you are a loner – you can be alone together.”