Director of Medical Education
As Director of Medical Education, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Rachel Sullivan provides oversight for the development, direction, and coordination of all medical education and health education activities across all specialties at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Lt. Col. Sullivan collaborates with state and local partners in Graduate Medical Education and Graduate Heath Education for the advancement of graduate education in Hawaii, the U.S. military, and U.S. Veterans Affairs facilities.
As the Designated Institutional Official, Lt. Col. Sullivan oversees the training of more than 250 U.S. military officers in 22 GME and Graduate Allied Health Education specialty programs. She leads the Graduate Medical Education Committee to ensure that TAMC and its specialty programs comply with applicable institutional, common, and specialty/subspecialty-specific accreditation program requirements through collaboration with Defense Health Agency leadership, multiple hospital departments, and GME and GHE stakeholders. TAMC supports the entire U.S. Indo-Pacific Command region and prepares its graduates to lead in serving the medical needs of the U.S. military across the globe.
An adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist by practice, Lt. Col. Sullivan trained at TAMC, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. She earned a bachelor of arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland with double majors in philosophy and the history of mathematics and sciences, along with dual minors in classical studies and comparative literature. Lt. Col. Sullivan presents and publishes nationally and internationally, predominantly on military and ethical topics. Her professional military education includes Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Lt. Col. Sullivan has served as the TAMC child and adolescent psychiatry program director, the TAMC Psychiatry associate program director, and as a clinic chief for multiple behavioral health clinics. She served as a medical student clerkship director for psychiatry and designed and taught multiple curricula for learners, medical students, physician assistants, psychologists, developmental pediatrics fellows, and psychiatrists. Lt. Col. Sullivan chaired the TAMC ‘s Ethics Committee, and the TAMC’s GMEC Well-being Committee. She has also served on the following committees: Peer Support Committee, Credentials Committee, Psychiatric Clinical Competency Committee, Psychiatric Program Evaluations Committee, the Transgender Care Team, the Walter Reed House Officer Counsel, and GME committees at TAMC and Walter Reed. She has deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As a resident, she served as GMEC resident representative, and intern class vice president.
Lt. Col. Sullivan’s awards and decorations include the U.S. Army Medical Command 9A Proficiency Designator for professional excellence, induction as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the Meritorious Service Metal with oak leaf cluster, two permanent Army Superior Unit Awards, three Overseas Tour Ribbons, the U.S. Army Commendation Metal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Achievement Metal, and nomination and acceptance as an Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society member. Lt. Col. Sullivan received the Victor J. Teichner Award from American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis, and the Teaching with Technology Award from the Uniformed Services University. As a resident, Lt. Col. Sullivan received the National Capital Consortium Psychiatry Leadership Award, and two Resident of the Year awards.
Lt. Col. Sullivan Has served on multiple national academic committees. She joined the Society of Uniformed Services Psychiatrists as the elections chair in 2014-2016. She then served as its secretary from 2016-2018, vice president from 2019-2020, and as immediate past president from 2020-2022. Lt. Col. Sullivan served as president of the Hawaii Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists from 2021-2023, and went on to serve as co-chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists Military Issue Committee.