Emergency Medicine Residency Faculty
Derek Hunt, D.O., is the program director of the emergency medicine program at Merit Health Wesley. Dr. Hunt attended William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his emergency medicine residency at Merit Health Wesley's emergency medicine residency program. He is board certified in emergency medicine.
Fredro C. Knight, M.D., FACEP, is the assistant program director of the emergency medicine residency program at Merit Health Wesley in Hattiesburg, MS. Dr. Knight completed an emergency medicine residency at University of Chicago's emergency medicine residency program. He is now a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
He attended medical school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, after receiving a Bachelor of Science in chemistry at Xavier University in New Orleans, LA. He has always had a passion for teaching and currently serves as the EMS medical director for multiple EMS programs in his home state of Louisiana. He also co-founded the Big Easy Medical Skills program to help mid-level and non-traditional emergency providers acquire the skills traditionally taught in emergency medicine programs to enhance care in the emergency department.
Prior to serving in his current position, Dr. Knight served for eight years as an adjunct clinical professor of emergency medicine for the LSU Family Medicine Residency Program in Bogalusa, LA. He has also served as core faculty for the emergency medicine programs at William Carey and at Merit Health Wesley for three years.
Daniel Crane, M.D., FACEP, serves as the chair of emergency medicine at Merit Health Wesley. He also serves as the clinical vice president of hospital-based programs for Community Health Systems. He oversees over 40 emergency medicine and hospital medicine departments across 8 states with more than 600,000 patient visits per year. He also provides support to 70 hospitals across the Community Health Systems network.
Dr. Crane received his medical degree from Wake Forest School of Medicine and completed his emergency medicine residency at the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital in Birmingham, AL. He is board certified in emergency medicine, is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, has authored a number of clinical articles and lectured on a variety of emergency medicine topics. His interests include sepsis, resident education, physician career development and emergency department efficiency. Throughout his career, Dr. Crane has served on a number of hospital committees, including the medical executive committee, chest pain committee, trauma committee, sepsis committee and patient flow committee.
He resides in Hattiesburg with his wife, Sally, their four children and numerous pets. He is active in their local church and serves on the board of the local humane society.
Roderick Taylor is the program coordinator.