Tracy W. Gaudet, MD, is the founding executive director of the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) National Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation. She led the VHA’s transition to Whole Health, a unique and visionary approach to wellness that delivers personalized, proactive, and patient-centered care to US veterans.
Dr. Gaudet’s vision has expanded in her new role as executive director of the recently formed Whole Health Institute and Chopra Library, whose mission is to make Whole Health affordable and accessible nationwide.
Prior to working at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Gaudet worked at the Duke University Health System where she served as Executive Director of Duke Integrative Medicine from 2001 to 2010. Under her leadership, Duke Integrative Medicine created a state-of-the-art healthcare facility dedicated to the transformation of medicine through the exploration, demonstration, and research of new models of patient-centered care. Prior to her work at Duke, Dr. Gaudet was the founding Executive Director of the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine, leading the design of the country’s first comprehensive curriculum in this new field, launching a two-year full-time fellowship, and then creating the two-year distance learning fellowship. In addition, Dr. Gaudet co-founded the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine.
Dr. Gaudet received her BA degree in Psychology and Sociology from Duke University, her MD degree from Duke University, and she completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas in San Antonio. She is Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and regularly teaches and writes for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
A recognized leader in the transformation of healthcare, she speaks nationally in public and professional venues ranging from National Academy of Medicine and Department of Defense to The Oprah Show. She was featured on the PBS nationally acclaimed special entitled “The New Medicine,” and named by Shape magazine as one of the eleven women who shape the world. In July of 2011, Dr. Gaudet was recognized as one of the “Top 25 Women in Healthcare 2011” by Modern Healthcare. In October of 2013, Dr. Gaudet was featured as a Game Changer in Fortune Magazine. She was named the recipient of the 2013 Bravewell Leadership Award for her significant contributions to advancing the field of medicine. Dr. Gaudet is also the author of Consciously Female, a book on integrative medicine and women’s health, and Body, Soul and Baby.