Shih attended medical school at Kaohsiung Medical University, where he earned a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) in 1991. After graduation, he was an attending physician in emergency medicine at National Taiwan University Hospital from 1998 to 2007.[2] While practicing, he earned his Ph.D. in public health, health policy, and health management from National Taiwan University in 2006.[3] His doctoral dissertation was titled, "An epidemiological study of adverse events in emergency medicine" (急診醫療不良事件之流行病學研究).[4]
From February 6, 2023, to August 31, 2025, Shih was the director-general of the National Health Insurance Administration [zh] of the Ministry of Health. Previously, he served as the ministry's head of medical affairs and as deputy health minister.[5] On August 30, 2025, he was confirmed to succeed Chiu Tai-yuan as health minister,[6] and took office on September 1.[3] As minister, he took over supervision of the ministry's "Healthy Taiwan" initiative, aimed to increase sustainable development.[7]
