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Wahdae-Mai Harmon

Head and shoulders photo of Wahdae-Mai Harmon IHTM 2017

Wahdae-Mai Harmon IHTM 2017

Public Health Specialist Ministry of Health, Liberia

Course Coordinator at University of Liberia School of Public Health

Background
Wahdae-Mai grew up in Monrovia, Liberia and attended the Cuttington University in Bong County before studying post-graduate Medicine at the A. M Dogliotti College of Medicine, University of Liberia. Once qualified, she worked in obstetrics and gynaecology at hospitals and health centres throughout Liberia. Following the Ebola outbreak in 2014-2016, when she worked as a clinician, Wahdae-Mai grew increasingly convinced of the need for change in the public health system in Liberia. Believing that she could have more impact on a larger scale in this arena, she changed careers and moved into public health.

Why IHTM?
Wahdae-Mai realised that she needed to expand her skills in public health and was looking to further her studies. IHTM appealed to her because of the global context of the course and its holistic approach. She drew on the experience of IHTM alumnus, Julius Gilayeneh, who was also from Liberia and had returned to work there after studying IHTM.

Impact
Following IHTM, Wahdae-Mai returned to Liberia to work as a Public Health Specialist and she is also part of the University of Liberia Public Health Programme. She was instrumental in setting up a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Liberia, College of Health Sciences to address the need for more public health practitioners in Liberia’s health system. The Master’s is designed to meet a critical workforce gap in the Liberian public health sector. Consequently, the curriculum emphasizes the acquisition of workforce-ready skills, research and technical competencies and offers learners the option of focusing on one of four tracks: Applied Epidemiology, Environmental Health, Health Systems Management and Public Health Lab.

Wahdae-Mai is also the Technical Lead of a consortium for generating evidence on sexual reproductive health in Liberia. This consortium works with global universities and institutes on research projects and includes a collaboration with IHTM researching maternal neonatal policies in Liberia. The collaboration sees current IHTM students and faculty working alongside the consortium through research placements and theses. The consortium has conducted impactful studies that provide valuable insights into sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in Liberia. These studies are poised to shape evidence-based policies and interventions, fostering improvements in SRH services, accessibility, and health outcomes across the country.

Coming from a clinical background, Wahdae-Mai says that IHTM changed her perception of the public health landscape and she acquired skills and knowledge that she could translate into practice. Learning how to manage different stakeholders has helped with her roles post IHTM, as has improving presentation and teaching skills and proposal writing.

The Last Word
“IHTM changed the trajectory of my career. My focus changed from clinical work to looking at the bigger picture and learning how to generate and use evidence-based policies and resources more effectively.”

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