Residency Program — Resident Profiles
Learn more about our current residents and their remarkable work in the Public Health/Preventive Medicine Residency Program by reading their profiles below.
You can also check out the most recent edition of our Residency Program Newsletter (PDF) for more information about the physicians who are working to prevent disease and promote health in the city.
Charles Smith (First year)
Dr. Smith joined the PH/PMR program after completing a transitional-year program at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is a U.S. Army Veteran, where he worked as combat medical specialist for several years. Additionally, he taught STEM classes at the elementary grade level. He has an interest in community/environmental health, child/maternal health and lifestyle medicine. He is excited about the numerous opportunities available at the Health Department to help further his career in public health.
Nisha Kochar (Second year)
Dr. Kochar joined the PH/PMR program after completing training in Family Medicine at the Institute for Family Health's Mid-Hudson program. She is interested in systems-based practice, evidence-based medicine, health equity and health policy. Her short and long-term projects at the Health Department have spanned across the agency, with the Coalition to End Racism in Clinical Algorithms (CERCA) team, the Crisis Standards of Care with the Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response and a long-term, quantitative analysis of the utilization of COVID-19 therapeutics across New York City.
Michael Hawkins (Second year)
Dr. Hawkins joined the PH/PMR program after obtaining his medical degree from the School of Medicine at Stony Brook and training in surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital. He has previous experience in emergency response, clinical and pharmaceutical research and teaching. He was most recently the Senior Clinical Lead in the Department of Education’s Situation Room. He has interests in community health programming, health technology and informatics and health equity. His time at the Health Department has been spent working on projects with the Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness, the Brooklyn Bureau of Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control and the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care and Treatment.