Christian Rathke

CAPT Christian Rathke DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA was commissioned in December of 2011 in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) after seven years in the US Navy. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, VA, a Master of Medical Science with a concentration in Physician Assistant Studies from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, and a Doctor of Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg focused on administrative medicine and organizational interventions to achieve workforce health outcomes.

He began his medical career as a National Health Service Corps scholar and medical provider, where he served as the Site Director of a newly established Community Health Center in Fredonia, AZ. His leadership extended to his election as President of the local Chamber of Commerce. As the town’s only full-time “Doc,” he treated all aspects of health for his patients and served as the primary consultant to the Mayor for Public Health concerns in the town. He then specialized in cardiology for five years at Pensacola Naval Hospital in Florida and chaired the hospital's CHF practice guidelines committee. CAPT Rathke is also an Aerospace Physiologist, Dive Medical Officer, and educator training over 3,000 pilots and aircrew, the Blue Angels, and NASA Astronauts in all aspects of human performance in high-risk operational environments. As a subject matter expert in flight physiology and hypoxia, he served two years as an instructor for the US Navy Flight Surgeon program and a collaborative published researcher and instructor for the Army Air Warrior Program. Trained in public health crisis management, he has been deployed with the USPHS to respond to public health emergencies. As a USPHS Officer, his four assignments thus far have all been with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). His prior NOAA position was with the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), serving NOAA’s 12,000 employees as the Director of Office of Health Services with a portfolio of five medical programs, including Aviation Medicine, Behavioral Health, Dive Medicine, Marine Medicine, and NOAA Corps Medical Affairs. CAPT Rathke was also the COVID-19 response medical lead for the Department of Commerce and NOAA for two and a half years. Starting May 2022 as the Director of Total Worker Health, he now leads a unique comprehensive organizational approach to federal workforce support, healthy work design, and a health-in-all policies framework for the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) within NOAA and across multiple federal sectors.

Award highlights include the Department of Commerce Gold Medal, Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, NOAA Corps Meritorious Service Medal, NOAA Administrator’s Award (2), PHS Outstanding Service Medal, PHS Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

Distinguished Fellow American Academy of Physician Assistants (DFAAPA)
Fellow Academy of Physician Assistants in Psychiatry (APAP)
Member American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)