State Surgeon General Scott A Rivkees, M.D. 

Dr. Scott A. Rivkees, Florida’s Surgeon General, is focused on protecting, promoting and improving the health of everyone who calls Florida home. As Surgeon General, Dr. Rivkees also serves as state health officer for the Florida Department of Health. In this capacity, he oversees the operations of the state health office in Tallahassee, 67 county health departments, 22 area offices for the Division of Children’s Medical Services, 12 regional offices for the Division of Medical Quality Assurance, nine area offices for the Division of Disability Determinations and three public health laboratories.

Dr. Rivkees has committed his career to building a culture of health that can help each adult and child in Florida live a long and healthy life.

Before his tenure as Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Rivkees served as chair of the department of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine and physician-in-chief of UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, part of UF Health Shands Hospital and the University of Florida’s Academic Health Center. He also served as academic chair of pediatrics at Orlando Health and the University of Florida College of Medicine pediatric chair at Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart in Pensacola.

Dr. Rivkees is a graduate of Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He received residency, fellowship and postdoctoral training and served as faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Before moving to Florida, Dr. Rivkees served as professor of pediatrics with tenure at Yale University. As associate chair for research he started and directed the Yale Pediatric Thyroid Center, one of the first of its kind in the United States.

Dr. Rivkees has worked with the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on drug safety issues. He was responsible for the safety alert on liver toxicity caused by the antithyroid drug propylthiouracil. This led to major international treatment practice changes. For his effort, he was recognized as the 2018 recipient of the American Thyroid Association’s Paul Starr Award.

During his career, Dr. Rivkees has been named as “One of America’s Best Doctors,” “One of America's Top Pediatricians" and “One of New York’s Best Doctors.” He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Connecticut Academy of Science and a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Rivkees is also a recipient of the Pioneer Award from CARES and the Special Service Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Rivkees has had more than 30 years of continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health. He has more than 250 publications.

He is past chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He is past chair of the Advocacy Committee of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, past treasurer of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and past member of the Pediatric Policy Council.

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