About Me

Colonel Robert Adams, MD is a US Naval Academy graduate who served thirty-six years in the Navy and Army as a Navy SEAL, the DELTA Force Command Surgeon, and an Army family medicine physician (with obstetrics). Wake Forest Medical School, then an Army residency at Madigan Army Medical center in Tacoma, Washington was followed by  3 1/2 years as the DELTA Force Command Surgeon and wartime service with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq. After the military he built a thriving private practice in North Carolina where he won numerous awards for clinical excellence and practiced for 13 more years, retiring in 2020.

Other books by Dr. Adams - Six Days of Impossible Navy SEAL Hell Week – a Doctor Looks Back

My patients comments  are alive in this book.  We remain close and care for each other..

Your book describes a most varied and interesting life, and one that I cannot possibly compete with in terms of adventure, excitement, and achievement.  I was fascinated by the comparisons on military and civilian experience from the perspective of a serving officer and a medic.  You strike a good balance of delving into medical complexities without resorting to jargon and I'm sure that non-medical persons will enjoy it every bit as much.  However, as a family doctor, with many similar experiences, and many shared outlooks on what is important, and what is not, I find your accounts particularly pertinent and illuminating.  It is a reminder, too, that although our medical systems differ in so many important respects (and this is highlighted further by the difference between a military and civilian experience), the basic tenets of our profession are much the same, and the importance of 'humanity' in all you do is emphasized. 

I think your use of Willian Henley's 'Invictus' as 'bookends' for your book is particularly apposite.  It not only emphasizes your natural humanity, and the philosophy that underpins your practice, but relates naturally to your role as a military man - something that I can only admire from afar.  You will, of course, be aware of the 'Invictus Games', and the ethos that underlies them:   "The Games harness the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation, and generate a wider understanding and respect for those who serve their country."  They are a reminder to those of us who have not, that many have served bravely, and often with great sacrifice, to ensure our safety and our values.  I'm grateful to you, and so many others, who have served in such a valiant cause, for although it could be argued that not all wars can be justified, those who go to war on our behalf are beyond reproach and deserve our support and admiration.

Dr. P. Rowland (Wales family physician)