Following her desire to care for the whole person, Dr. Leslie Israel built a career in occupational medicine. Now, she’s using her knowledge of holistic health care to protect the people who keep Los Angeles running.
KCU alumna Leslie Israel, DO (COM 1992), MPH, began her journey to medical school began at UCLA, where her interest in communications and human behaviors led her to pursue a psychology degree. After graduation, she accepted a position at UCLA’s Fernald School working with school-aged children with mental health and emotional issues. Time spent with the children caused Israel to further explore what might be affecting their behavior. “While mental health is extremely important, I realized it’s only one piece of the puzzle,” Israel shared. “Caring for the whole person means addressing both physical and emotional well-being. Becoming a physician would enable me to treat children and adults holistically, integrating behavioral and medical care.”
Israel returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in biosciences from the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine), and then interviewed at several osteopathic schools, including the KCU College of Osteopathic Medicine. “When I visited KCU for my interview, I felt an immediate sense of community,” said Israel. “The faculty’s dedication to student success and the warm, welcoming attitude of the students reassured me that this was the right place. I trusted my instincts and chose KCU, and it was one of the best decisions I made.”
After graduating from KCU in 1992, Israel matched into the Yale Internal Medicine Primary Care Residency Program. During her residency, she did an elective rotation in Yale’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine program. She loved it. “During my residency at Yale, I discovered occupational medicine and instantly connected with it,” Israel said. “It combined my osteopathic training – the idea of treating the whole person – with my interest in understanding how work environments impact health. Occupational medicine was a perfect match for me.”
Israel remained at Yale, receiving a Master of Public Health and completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program. In 1998, she returned to her home state of California, accepting a faculty position as an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). At UCSF, she served as the medical director for Employee Health Services and actively participated in clinical research and in training occupational medicine residents and nurses. In 2003, she returned to Southern California, accepting an Associate Clinical Professor faculty position at UC Irvine. While there, she served as the medical director for the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health clinic and as the residency program director for the Occupational Medical Residency Program
In 2014, the nation’s largest utility, the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), recruited her to serve as the medical director and chief physician. Israel saw this as a career opportunity to apply her background, training and experience to support the health and well-being of the utility and their employees. Her primary responsibilities include medical oversight of health and safety at LADWP and ensuring that the on-site occupational health clinic effectively addresses workplace injuries and complies with regulatory agencies. “Prevention is at the core of occupational health,” Israel emphasized. “Physicians need to ask, ‘What kind of work do you do?’ That simple question can reveal so much about the physical and mental demands placed on a patient and the vital connection between their job and overall health.”
An accomplishment that Israel is proud of in her current position was “implementing a new software system for LADWP’s occupational health services, which was a challenge I hadn’t anticipated,” Israel recalled. “It pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me invaluable lessons in software configuration and project management. Completing it in just 10 months was an achievement I’m proud of.”
When asked what makes her feel most fulfilled about her work at LADWP, Israel said, “What fulfills me most is collaborating with labor, management and employees to create a safer, healthier work environment,” Israel said. “Being able to bridge those relationships and advocate for worker health and safety is incredibly rewarding.”
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