13: Master Health Educator Turned Public Health Consultant with Leah Roman, MPH, MCHES

Interview with Leah Roman, MPH, MCHES

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Highlights from this episode:

1. Attaining the inaugural Master Health Education Specialist
2. Transitioning into public health consulting
3. Why health education is important for public health work

Episode 13 of Public Health Careers

In this episode Leah Roman, MPH, MCHES talks to us about her public health journey and navigating her path to becoming an established public health consultant today. Leah starts off by discussing the challenges with no child care as a mother of two in the COVID19 climate.

Leah began her public health journey like most of us, not studying public health but rather starting her Bachelors in Psychology at Rutgers University before transitioning to a Study Abroad experience and then completing her Bachelors at University of San Diego. Her shift to want to pursue a career in public health came from a Health Psychology class where she learnt a lot of health education topics. She was able to volunteer at Planned Parenthood which gave her experience to want to pursue big picture public health trends rather than clinical.

After working with Planned Parenthood after graduating Leah then pursued a Master of Public Health at Boston University. She like the idea of the MPH as she saw it as a flexible terminal degree for her growing public health interest. Leah became certified as a Certified Health Education Specialist in 2005 before graduating in 2006. Leah developed a love for College Health which led her to her role as the Coordinator, Health Promotion & Wellness Programs at Babson College – she also shares her struggle with this transition. Additionally, Leah was part of the inaugural MCHES class of 2011 which has helped her career tremendously.

After sharing her journey through a couple other public health jobs, Leah talks about how she got started with her consulting company, Roman Public Health Consulting LLC. She then shares the services she does and how she became a subject matter expert for online public health course development and review. Be sure to listen to her share some insightful tips for those trying to navigate public health consulting. Check out the resources Leah shares from the show below.