John H. Armstrong, MD, FACS, FCCP, MAMSE, is a U.S health leader, medical educator, trauma surgeon, public health innovator, and 4^th generation Army veteran.  He is professor of surgery and distinguished educator at the University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida; adjunct professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland; member of the Trauma Center Association of America (TCAA) board of directors; member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academy of Master Surgeon Educators; chair of the ACS Surgical Skills for Practicing Surgeons committee; and vice speaker of the American Medical Association House of Delegates (AMA HOD).  He is an past member of the US Defense Health Board and the executive committee of the ACS Committee on Trauma (COT). 

John has led local, regional, and statewide trauma systems, to include an eleven-trauma center academic network that covered 40% of Florida’s population and demonstrated survival above the national injury benchmark.  He was the inaugural chief medical officer of the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) and the second trauma medical director at the University of Florida, Gainesville (covering 1.1 million people in 12 counties). 

John served as Florida's surgeon general and secretary of health under Governor Rick Scott from 2012 to 2016, during which he led Florida’s $2.9 billion health agency with 15,000 public health professionals and 67 county health offices.  With his leadership, Florida achieved the lowest infant mortality rate in its history, remained above the national average in life expectancy, and moved from 24^th to 12^th in healthy weight.  Further, the Florida Department of Health received first-in-the-nation national accreditation as an integrated department of health and reduced departmental regulation by 10%.  While keeping Florida safe from emerging contagions, he championed healthy choices, community-centered health initiatives, and business engagement in health.  He served as co-executive director of the Governor’s Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding and received the 2016 Florida Medical Association Distinguished Service Award. 

John has been a national leader in health policy and advocacy for over 25 years and has been engaged in leadership at all levels of the AMA: he is a former young physician member of the AMA Board of Trustees and former AMA secretary; a former member of the AMA Council on Long Range Planning and Development; a former chair of both the House Compensation Committee and the AMA Young Physicians Section; and a former delegate, alternate delegate, or chair of a variety of delegations and caucuses in the HOD.

John has been an advocacy leader in the ACS and was the 2022 ACS SurgeonsVoice Advocate of the Year.  He served five years on the ACS COT executive committee as chair of the advocacy pillar, which drove federal Mission Zero reappropriation, development and promulgation of the ACS National Trauma and Emergency Preparedness System proposal, and Stop the Bleed kit funding/training in 14 states.  He has been chair and advisory member of the SurgeonsPAC board of directors; chair of the ACS delegation to the AMA HOD; vice chair of the health policy and advocacy group; and member of the legislative committee.  He is a past-president of the Florida Chapter of the ACS and former Florida governor on the ACS board of governors.

John concluded five years of service on the eighteen-member US Defense Health Board, with four years as chair of its Trauma and Injury Subcommittee, which delivered two seminal reports on readiness through military-civilian partnerships for prolonged theater care in large-scale combat operations. He completed his career in the US Army Medical Corps at the rank of Colonel in 2005. His final assignment was Director, US Army Trauma Training Center (ATTC), in association with the Ryder Trauma Center, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL.  He led the development and implementation of a two-week interdisciplinary team training program in trauma casualty care for military medical units deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.   Under his leadership, the ATTC was named the Department of Defense (DoD) Center of Excellence for Combat Casualty Care Team Training (2004) and received the DoD Patient Safety Award for Team Training (2005). He also served as chair of the Army (State) ACS COT and provided oversight of the largest region with the highest number of annual ATLS courses in the program. He was the program director for the only surgical critical care fellowship in DoD. He received the Army Surgeon General's Physician Recognition Award (top Medical Corps Lieutenant Colonel) in 2003, Surgeon General’s A-designator for General Surgery, five Army Meritorious Service Medals, and the Navy Commendation Medal.  He served as the senior visiting trauma surgeon at Landstuhl, Germany, in December 2011.

Dr. Armstrong is a graduate of Princeton University, the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and the US Army Command and General Staff College.  He performed his surgical residency at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, HI, his trauma/surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, and his Master Educators in Medical Education Fellowship at the University of Florida.  He is a co-editor of the ACS Disaster Management and Emergency Preparedness (DMEP) course (1^st edition) and the recently released electronic DMEP (e-DMEP) course.  He served for six years on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency Review Committee for Surgery.  He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and is certified by the American Board of Surgery with added qualifications in surgical critical care.  He is a fellow of the ACS, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Surgical Association, and the Southern Surgical Association, and a member of the American Association for Physician Leadership, the AMA, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (lifetime), the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Florida Medical Association.  He has published 78 articles, book chapters, and monographs and received five teaching awards.  He believes that education and training are essential drivers of change.