Dr. Sundwall is Professor – Emeritus – Public Health (clinical) in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer at Rocky Mountain Care.

He served as the Commissioner of Health and the Executive Director of Utah Department of Health (UDOH) for six years, first appointed by the Honorable Jon M Huntsman in Jan. 2005, and reappointed by the Honorable Gary R. Herbert, who assumed the position of Governor in July, 2009, when Governor Huntsman was appointed U.S. ambassador to China by President Obama. As Executive Director of the UDOH he supervised a workforce of approximately 1,000 employees and managed an annual budget of over $2.0 billion.

In October, 2017, University of Utah School of Medicine established the David N Sundwall M.D. – Annual Lecture in Public Health Policy with the inaugural lecture given by Dr. Sundwell on October 25, 2017

Dr. Sundwell was awarded Utah Doctor of the Year in 2014 by the Utah Medical Association with a proclamation presented in the state capital by Governor Gary R. Herbert, August 14, 2014