Who is Sean Conley, the presidential physician?

Sean Conley, the presidential physician

Credit: Ken Cedeno/Reuters

Confusing reports about the state of Donald Trump’s health has intensified the focus on his physician of the past two years, Sean Conley.

Dr Conley’s cautiously optimistic pronouncements were contradicted by Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, who said that the US president’s vials had been "very concerning".

It is not the first time that Mr Trump’s physician has found himself at the centre of a controversy. During the last presidential campaign Harold Bornstein, candidate Trump’s doctor released a letter saying that if elected he would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

Ronny Jackson, who was the first presidential physician, also gave Mr Trump a glowing medical testimony, saying he had "great genes".

Dr Conley, who took on the role of presidential physician in March 2018 after Ronny Jackson was nominated to become secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, deemed Mr Trump to be in "very good health" following a physical exam in February last year.

Aged 40, Dr Conley, a father of three and married to a physician,  is believed to be the first doctor of osteopathy to hold the position of presidential physician

While both undergo similar training, osteopaths take a broader, holistic view of the body taking into account a patient’s environment and lifestyle when coming to decisions about treatment.

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A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Dr Conley then studied at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine before becoming an emergency physician with the US Navy in 2006.

He went on to work at the Naval Medical Centre in Portsmouth, Virginia and at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida after which he was appointed director of medical trauma at a Nato hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Dr Conley received glowing reviews for his work with Nato, including being awarded the Romanian Emblem of Honour for saving the lives of a number of its soldiers who had been injured by a bomb.

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As presidential physician, Dr Conley was thrust into the public spotlight in May when it emerged that Mr Trump had been taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

While Mr Trump hyped up the drug, which he had requested from his physician, medical experts voiced concern over its side-effects and questioned its use as a coronavirus treatment.

In a White House memo, Dr Conley wrote that following discussions with Mr Trump they concluded "the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks."

A month later a study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that hydroxychloroquine was ineffective.

On Saturday Dr Conley told reporters that Mr Trump was not taking hydroxychloroquine. “We discussed it, he asked about it. He’s not on it now.”

The Telegraph has contacted the Walter Reed Medical Centre for comment.