For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Rachel Seltman.

Being a doctor is challenging enough, but imagine having a patient whose health has direct implications for national security and global politics. Presidential physicians face unique

medical challenges, from managing the health care of someone

with a grueling schedule to preparing for the possibility of gunshot wounds.

And then there's the question of transparency. How much should the public know about a president's

health? Jeffrey Coleman served as physician to the president from 2009 to 2013.

He also held other medical roles at the White House, like Director of the White House

Medical Unit, White House Physician, and Senior Medical Officer for the Marine One Squadron

for more than a decade before that.

His recent book, Transforming Presidential Health Care, offers a rare inside look at what it takes to keep commanders-in-chief healthy.

He recently chatted with Scientific American Associate Editor Lauren Young.

Here's their conversation.

Tell me how you became a physician to the president.

How does one find themselves in such an important medical role?

Like many things in life, it's being in the right place at the right time.

I would say it probably started a decade earlier or two.

I was a high school senior, March 30, 1981, and I heard on the radio shots fired for President

Reagan.

His code sign was Rahai, so Rahai down, and they had taken him to the

hospital to George Washington. And that's where they treated him like a trauma patient instead of like a

VIP and saved his life. So that was that installation in the brain of, hey, there's actually

doctors and nurses that take care of the president.

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