Kathleen M. McPhaul, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N.
Dr. McPhaul is the Deputy Chief Consultant of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Public Health, Occupational Health group. She leads programs and policy development related to occupational health hazards associated with the work environment in the Veterans Health Administration facilities.
Dr. McPhaul has been an occupational health specialist since 1987 when she graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health from a NIOSH supported multidisciplinary program for occupational health. She directed the field operations of a private mobile occupational health surveillance services firm in Baltimore where she became familiar with regulatory requirements for medical surveillance across multiple industries.
Subsequently, she joined the staff of the Occupational Health Project at the University of Maryland (UMD) School of Medicine. As coordinator for research studies she also provided public health outreach to the occupational medicine clinic, a position that resulted in numerous investigations of working conditions across the Baltimore region. During her time in the UMD School of Medicine she was detailed to the Baltimore VA Medical Center where she coordinated the stand up of the Depleted Uranium surveillance program for Persian Gulf War Veterans.
She moved to the University of Maryland School of Nursing where she began coordinating Workplace Violence Prevention research while she completed a Ph.D. Upon completion of her Ph.D. in 2004 she joined the faculty. There she conducted research with a team of researchers who focused on mitigating hazards in the health care work environment. She completed her dissertation study on Workplace Violence Prevention in the Home Health Work Environment and participated as a co-investigator on workplace violence and blood borne pathogen intervention research projects. She developed a course called "Hazards in the Health Care Work Environment" and conducted numerous investigations and consultations for health care employers and unions.
She joined the Veterans Health Administration in 2012 as the first Deputy Chief Consultant for Occupational Health. She aspires to lead the Occupational Health group "to be the national leader in occupational health, achieving optimal workforce productivity and health through innovation, prevention and population management."
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