Chief PA
keeps Coast
Guard healthy

Taking charge in the U.S. Coast Guard

In 1998, Dr. Cannon transitioned from the U.S. Army to the USCG, where today he serves in two capacities: Chief Physician Assistant and contingency mission planning.

As Chief Physician Assistant, he has broad-reaching responsibilities in the USCG and beyond. “I am a policy advisor, and as such I act as a consultant to the Surgeon General and the Chief Medical Officer of the USCG,” explains Dr. Cannon. “I’m also responsible for the USCG’s physician assistant (PA) program in San Antonio, Texas, which is the largest inter-service program in the country that trains the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard PAs.” The USCG has 42 medical clinics, and each has PAs, who Dr. Cannon reviews and manages. “We also have two PAs in the White House who care for the president, vice president and their families, and I am in charge of staffing those assignments,” he adds.

The second side of his job entails planning for the USCG’s contingency missions, such as responding to natural disasters or oil spills. “There is always a health care component to those situations,” says Dr. Cannon. “It could be as simple as putting a corpsman on a boat or as complex as staffing an extensive mass migration from Cuba or Haiti. In the USCG, our motto is semper paratus, which means ‘always ready.’”

Getting there

Dr. Cannon hasn’t always focused his talents in the field of medicine. He attended college directly out of high school, studying business and communications. Though he initially interviewed with the CIA, he ended up working in finance for high-profile companies, including the Lockheed Corporation and Dial Corporation. He earned his Master of Business Administration in 1989 at the age of 24. All the while, he served as a reservist in the U.S. Armed Forces, first with the U.S. Navy and later with the U.S. Army. “Because I was in the reserves and had my MBA, people made the assumption that I was older than I was,” remembers Dr. Cannon.

Although he enjoyed a high level of success in executive-level positions and found himself handsomely paid, for Dr. Cannon, something was missing. “I knew what was required to do well in business,” he says, “and I didn’t like the person I was becoming inside. Something kept tugging at me.”

A new beginning

Dr. Cannon had always wanted to go into medicine. He was accepted into medical school and PA school, and he chose the latter. “I was familiar with the PA option,” Dr. Cannon says. “The PA profession has made the top 10 job lists for the past decade, and it is a significant and credible answer to the heath care crisis.” Dr. Cannon, part Native American himself, began his medical career working in an emergency department on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. “I enjoyed my time there immensely,” he reflects.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Dr. Cannon transitioned to active duty in the USCG where he could make even more of an impact. Although he already held bachelor’s and master’s degrees and was a board-certified PA, he decided to continue his education. In 2009, he earned his Doctor of Health Administration. “I chose this degree because it has a very specific applicability to what I do,” he says. “Physicians don’t learn about leadership and economics in medical school, and those are moving pieces in the health care industry. Because of my degree, I am frequently tapped for projects outside the typical realm of a PA, and my physician peers see me as an expert in these non-clinical matters.”

Despite his inexhaustible quest for knowledge and excellence, Dr. Cannon knows that he couldn’t have done it without his solid upbringing. “I am a lucky guy to have the mother I did,” he says. In the end, he knows he can’t go wrong if he follows her simple advice. “She told me, ‘If you work hard, do what you enjoy and make good decisions, then things will work out,’” he says.
“I guess I have.”

Dr. Cannon plans for the Coast Guard’s contingency missions, such as responding to natural disasters or oil spills.