rwillia3@usf.edu

Dr. Rachel Williams succeeded Dr. Thomas Truncale as the Program Director effective July 1, 2018. Dr. Williams is an Assistant Affiliate Professor in the USF College of Public Health and an Assistant Professor in the USF Morsani College of Medicine. She has strong ties to Florida, graduating from University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1993, followed by her Doctor of Medicine degree from USF College of Medicine in 1998. Her residency training was completed at USF: Pathology (1998-2002), Internal Medicine (2007-2008), and Occupational Medicine (2009-2011). She received her Master of Science in Public Health from USF in 2011. She is board-certified in Preventive and Occupational Medicine by ABPM and a certified Medical Review Officer.

After OMR residency, Dr. Williams worked in a community-based private practice as the Medical Director of Occupational Health Services at Florida Hospital Tampa. She provided care for the 5,000+ employees of Florida Hospital as well as the employees of many other large employers in the area. Throughout this time, she maintained her relationship with USF as a clinical preceptor for OMR residents and gave Wednesday conference lectures.

leec2@usf.edu

Dr Lee is an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Medicine in the USF College of Public Health and the USF Morsani College of Medicine. He is a board certified in occupational medicine by the ABPM and is currently serving as the Medical Director of BayCare Health Systems Employee Health as well as Medical Director of BayCare Urgent Care and Occupational Health. He also has experience in corporate medicine as a consultant and medical director for different companies across various industries. Prior to embarking in a career in Occupational Medicine, Dr. Lee graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Asian-American Studies, followed by a Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Miami. Post graduate training was completed at the University of California San Francisco (Internal Medicine 2010-2011), University of Texas Southwestern (Anesthesiology 2011-2013), and University of South Florida (Occupational Medicine 2014-2016). Dr. Lee in charge of the resident rotation at BayCare Urgent Care where residents get exposure to both occupational medicine and worker’s compensation as well as urgent care medicine. He specializes in Florida worker’s compensation as well as fitness for duty evaluations.

kamalp@usf.edu

Dr. Kamal Patel is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the USF Morsani College of Medicine. Dr. Patel is board certified in Occupational Medicine and Preventive Medicine. He is currently an attending physician at NeuSpine Institute. He currently serves as a director of the Florida Association of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. He is also secretary of American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s Pain and Musculoskeletal Medicine Special Interest Section.

After completing his training at University of South Florida and becoming a board certified occupational medicine physician, Dr. Patel obtained fellowship training in Interventional and Non-Interventional Pain. Since his training, Dr. Patel has completed over 6000 procedures including kyphoplasties, implantation of spinal cord stimulators, and other minimally invasive procedures. Dr. Patel works to mentor the residents in appropriate pain management of injured workers. Dr. Patel maintains his strong relationship with USF by also serving as a clinical preceptor for the Occupational Medicine Residency.

ehanna@usf.edu

Dr. Hanna was initially trained in Emergency Medicine and worked in the field for 10 years. She had an opportunity to start up an Occupational Medicine practice in Laurinburg, NC which she took because of her interest in industry and how things are made. After seven years of practical experience in Occupational Medicine, she was presented with the chance to be officially trained in Occupational Medicine as a resident at University of South Florida in 2001. Upon completing her training and becoming Board Certified in the specialty, she was appointed as the Program Chief of Occupational Health at the James A. Haley VA Hospital, caring for over 4000 hospital employees for 11 years until her retirement in September, 2014. She was an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of South Florida, College of Public Health in nthe Department of Occupational and Environmental Health from 2014-2017. Currently she is serving as a Courtesy Professor for the USF Occupational Medicine Residency Program and mentors the Occupational Medicine residents for the Master’s thesis project. She enjoys teaching and feels ii is a privilege to impart wisdom and knowledge in the field of Occupational Medicine to eager minds. Her areas of expertise are emergency preparedness, building related illnesses, and occupational dermatology.

truncat@usf.edu

Dr. Truncale is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine in the USF Morsani College of Medicine. Dr. Truncale is board certified in Occupational Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. He served as Program Director for the past 7 years and is staying on to serve as Deputy Director with the program and advise Dr. Williams through the transition. He holds a full-time VA position as a Pulmonary Critical Care physician. Under his direction as program director the program resolved all ACGME citations and concerns. Dr. Truncale is the primary instructor for PHC 6351 Occupational Medicine for Health Professionals course offered each fall. He leads a monthly board review and additional didactic lectures as requested. He teaches the NIOSH-certified Spirometry course. Dr. Truncale specializes in Occupational Lung Disease, Inhalation Injury and building related disease.

Jwatkin9@tampabay.rr.com

Dr. Watkins is Affiliated Associate Professor of College of Public Health. She trained in Occupational Environmental Medicine at The Great Lakes ERC, University of Illinois and Cook County Hospital. She is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) and The International Academy of Independent Medical Evaluators (IAIME)  She was previously Medical Director of the Occupational Health Service of University Community Hospital and a consultant to the Department of Labor for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. She specializes in disability evaluations, Fitness for Duty Determinations and Independent Medical Examinations. 

kmbah@usf.edu

Dr. Alfred Mbah is an Assistant Professor with the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department in the College of Public Health. He teaches the Seminar in Occupational and Environmental Research that the residents take each semester and guides them through research and thesis. His research interest includes repeated measurement design, dose response and structural equation modeling. He has published close to 40 peer-reviewed articles that have advance the field of applied statistics on important issues in depression; reproductive and perinatal epidemiology, namely the impact of maternal conditions (e.g. obesity) on birth outcomes, as well as analyses focused on issues such as prematurity, and fetal demise. In 2009, he was awarded a 3 year grant from the James & Esther King Biomedical Research Program in the amount of $374,733, to research the role of passive smoking on the risk for antenatal and post-partum depression. Additionally, he serves as the lead statistician on multiple studies that examine health disparities, maternal health, and family health.