Sean Patrick Barbabella is a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

captain and osteopathic physician specializing in emergency and tactical medicine. Since 2025, he has served as the

physician to the president The physician to the president is the formal and official title of the physician whom the president of the United States chooses to be their personal physician. The physician to the president and the director of the White House Medical Unit are ...

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Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

Early life and education

Barbabella is a native of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Vincent M. Barbabella Sr., a retired

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

major and former Army Ranger who served during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Sean Barbabella graduated from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1992. He earned a

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become li ...

from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1996. He completed his residency at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.

Career

Barbabella is a career military physician specializing in emergency and tactical medicine. He completed several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his service in the United States Navy. In 2009, during his first deployment to Afghanistan, he was injured in a blast from an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

and was subsequently awarded a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. From August 2010 to March 2012, Barbabella served as the division surgeon with the

2nd Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina a ...

during a year-long deployment to

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

, Afghanistan. He was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

in 2012 for his meritorious conduct and service in that role. During that deployment, Barbabella led more than 40 medical officers and 20

physician assistants A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of non-physician practitioner. While these job titles are used internationally, there is significant variation in training and scope of practice from country to country, and sometimes b ...

and focused on point-of-injury care for service members in combat environments. He implemented improvements in patient tracking systems, including the Blast Exposure Concussion Incident Report and integration of blast injury documentation into

electronic medical records An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of electronically stored patient and population health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared thro ...

. He also contributed to medical training for the

Afghan National Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when th ...

's 215th Corps by designing basic combat lifesaving training, which transitioned to being taught independently by Afghan personnel. Barbabella played a role in the development of the Mobile Trauma Bay, a mobile medical facility that provided emergency-room-level care in the field and was equipped for resuscitation with medical staff and trauma equipment. He has also served as a member of the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care, which formulates battlefield trauma care guidelines. Barbabella held the position of

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune before taking command of the Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point in 2023. In January 2025, Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point announced that Barbabella would be leaving his post to join the White House Medical Unit. He serves as the

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Personal life

Barbabella is married and has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbabella, Sean Living people People from Birdsboro, Pennsylvania Physicians from Pennsylvania American osteopathic physicians 21st-century American physicians 21st-century American naval officers Physicians to the president of the United States Date of birth missing (living people) United States Navy Medical Corps officers University of Pittsburgh alumni A. T. Still University alumni Military personnel from Pennsylvania Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Navy personnel of the Iraq War American emergency physicians Second Trump administration personnel