Amanda Gomez
Amanda Gomez, BA
Program Initiated: 2018
Primary Advisor: Angela Parcesepe, PhD
Minor:
Research Interests: maternal health, health disparities, obstetric violence
Dissertation Research:
Honors/Awards: Royster Society of Fellows (2018)
Bio: Amanda is a first-year student in the Maternal and Child Health Department who is interested in how women’s sexual and reproductive health choices are negotiated within intimate relationships and healthcare settings.
Prior to beginning the MSPH-to-PhD program in MCH, Amanda worked as an Education and Outreach Specialist for the Sexual Assault Resource Center of the Brazos Valley where she created and implemented primary violence prevention programming and community outreach efforts in three rural Texas counties. Additionally, Amanda provided direct services to survivors of sexual violence through accompaniments to hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and court proceedings and by answering a 24-hour crisis hotline. Amanda received a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Texas A&M University in 2017. During her undergraduate career, Amanda studied cesarean rates and birth experiences for U.S. Latinas who gave birth in border hospitals and presented her findings at the Southwestern Social Science Association 2016 Annual Meeting. Results of this research later earned Amanda outstanding oral presentation awards at Texas A&M University’s 2017 Student Research Week and were published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.
In addition to being a student, Amanda is external research personnel for the Birth On My Terms Project – a study that examines the experiences of women who have had forced or coerced birth procedures. She also serves on Break the Cycle’s Love is Advocacy Team, providing technical assistance to rural organizations addressing teen dating violence.
