Where Pharmacy Meets Public Health: A Journey from Rural South Carolina to Maine

Dr. Leslie Ochs received a BS in Pharmacy, MSPH in Epidemiology and a PhD in Health Promotion and Education from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.  She went on to receive a PharmD from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.  

Prior to joining the University of New England School of Pharmacy, Dr. Ochs was a clinical pharmacist specialist in adult medicine at the Mountain Home VA Medical Center.  During her time, she developed the medication reconciliation program for the facility and provided clinical insight for the multidisciplinary inpatient medicine teams.  She precepted pharmacy students and pharmacy residents in adult medicine and served as adjunct clinical faculty at the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy and School of Medicine at East Tennessee State University.  She was a member of the VA National Medication Reconciliation Initiative and faculty for the Speaker’s Bureau.  Although, Dr. Ochs has spent most of her time as a clinical pharmacist in adult medicine she has experiences in other clinical settings that include neuro-intensive care, neurology, pediatrics and neonatal intensive care.   

In addition, Dr. Ochs has held faculty appointments in the field of public health at the University of South Carolina and Western Washington University with a focus in epidemiology, community development, program planning and evaluation, women and children’s health and rural health.  Leslie has extensive experience designing, implementing, managing and evaluating large public health programs funded by the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Office of Substance Abuse and Prevention and the Children’s Defense Fund.  Other past employment includes experiences as the Associate Director for Xcenda, Inc., a contract and consulting organization that provides health outcomes and pharmacoeconomic services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Her areas of interest include health outcomes research, poly-pharmacy and impact on quality of life and public health and clinical program evaluation.