[8] He then attended the University of Maryland Baltimore County through a full-tuition Meyerhoff Scholarship, a grant dedicated to minority students interested in the sciences.

[9] He also received a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000, with a focus on chronic disease prevention.

[11] Adams completed his internship in internal medicine (2002–2003) at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital and his residency in anesthesiology (2003–2006) at Indiana University.

[12] After two years in private practice at Ball Memorial Hospital,[13][14] Adams was named assistant professor of anesthesiology at Indiana University.

[15] During an HIV epidemic in 2015, Adams initially opposed needle-exchange programs on "moral" grounds, but he later changed his position as cases continued to mount.

In April 2018, Adams urged Americans who are at risk of overdosing on opioids, as well as their family and friends, to carry an over-the-counter antidote to help combat rising fatalities.

[25] In September 2018, Adams began a campaign along with other public health officials to promote seasonal flu vaccinations.

Do it for your abuela, do it for your granddaddy, do it for your big momma, do it for your pop-pop.” Public health experts criticized his assertions as misleading and lacking adequate context.

[39] Following his service as surgeon general, Adams joined Purdue University in October 2021 as a Presidential Fellow and its first executive director of health equity initiatives, professor of practice in the departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health, and a faculty member of the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering.