After completing his mission the same year, Trousseau travelled to Gibraltar as a member of a commission to investigate yellow fever.

In 1830 Trousseau became Médecin des hôpitaux through concours, and in 1832 received a position in public health with the central bureau while working as a physician in the Hôtel-Dieu under Joseph Claude Anthelme Récamier.

In 1839 he was appointed physician at the Hôpital St. Antoine and eventually became Chair of therapy and pharmacology at the Paris medical faculty.

He was also active in politics, particularly after the French Revolution of 1848, holding several positions including being a member of the legislative body.

Numerous students of his achieved fame in their own right, including Puerto Rican pro-independence leader, surgeon and Légion d'honneur laureate, Ramón Emeterio Betances.