Spotlight: Capt. Leshter “Lester” Belo, DNP(c), RN, a Servant-Leader and a Teacher
As Independence Day approaches, AUHS is honored to spotlight the service of Leshter “Lester” Belo, DNP candidate, MSN, BSN, adjunct nursing instructor, public health leader, healthcare entrepreneur, and Army Public Health Nurse Officer/Captain in the United States Army Reserve (currently in the Inactive Reserve).
Lester’s military journey began when he commissioned as an Army Public Health Nurse Officer in the United States Army Reserve. Serving as an Army nurse officer expanded his understanding of nursing beyond direct patient care. In the military, nurses are not only clinicians; they are also leaders, planners, educators, mentors, and public health professionals.
His experience included leadership responsibilities as an officer, including readiness, training, mentorship, personnel management, and mission preparation. As an Army Public Health Nurse, his role also connected closely with health promotion, disease prevention, disease surveillance, force health protection, and population-focused care.
Lester encourages AUHS nursing and pharmacy students to consider military healthcare as one possible pathway for service. Many students may not realize that nursing and pharmacy careers can extend beyond the traditional hospital, clinic, community, or retail setting. The military offers meaningful opportunities for healthcare professionals to serve their country while developing as clinicians, leaders, educators, and public servants.
For nursing students, military healthcare may offer opportunities in clinical nursing practice in military treatment facilities, specialty nursing, public health nursing, leadership and administration, humanitarian and disaster response, operational support, and Active Duty, Reserve, or other service components, depending on eligibility, professional background, branch-specific requirements, and the needs of the military.
For pharmacy students, military healthcare may also provide unique opportunities. Licensed pharmacists may serve as healthcare officers and contribute to medication therapy management, medication safety, clinical pharmacy services, patient education, readiness, logistics, and interdisciplinary care. Pharmacy professionals may work in military treatment facilities or other healthcare environments where safe and effective medication use is essential to mission success.
Lester also reminds students that military pathways vary by branch and by profession. Nursing students, licensed nurses, pharmacy students, licensed pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians may each have different eligibility requirements, training pathways, incentives, and service obligations. Students should speak directly with a healthcare recruiter from the branch they are considering and ask about officer commissioning, scholarships, loan repayment, specialty training, Active Duty versus Reserve options, and how service obligations fit with their personal and professional goals.
“Military service is not for everyone,” Lester says, “but for the right person, it can be a powerful pathway to serve the country, develop leadership, build resilience, and use nursing or pharmacy as a mission-driven profession.” For AUHS students, this pathway also connects closely with the university’s emphasis on service, cultural competence, critical thinking, leadership, and care for diverse communities.
How did Capt. Belo come to serve his country and AUHS? Lester was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States at the age of seven, around 1990. His family has played an important role in shaping who he is today. As an immigrant, he grew up understanding the value of sacrifice, hard work, humility, and opportunity. His family’s support helped him continue moving forward through different seasons of life, including nursing school, public service, military service, graduate education, teaching, leadership, and business ownership.
He is grateful to his wife and family, who continue to support him as he balances multiple roles in healthcare, education, public health, military service, and entrepreneurship. Their encouragement reminds him why service, stability, faith, and purpose matter.
Lester’s values were shaped by his immigrant experience, his family, faith, service, discipline, perseverance, and the responsibility to help others. Coming to the United States at a young age taught him the importance of adaptability, gratitude, and working hard for opportunities that were not always guaranteed.
Throughout his life and career, he has learned that leadership is not only about position or title. Leadership is about responsibility, humility, accountability, service, and being willing to help others when it matters most. These values continue to guide him as a nurse, educator, public health supervisor, Army Reserve Officer, and healthcare business owner.
AUHS’s mission and Christian values also resonate with his personal and professional values. The emphasis on love, caring, justice, respect, cultural competence, service, critical thinking, and the development of the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—aligns with how he believes healthcare professionals should be educated and prepared to serve.
Lester began his involvement with AUHS in February 2024 as an adjunct nursing instructor. Since then, he has had the opportunity to teach and mentor nursing students in theory, skills lab, and clinical settings.
He was motivated to work with AUHS because of its mission-driven approach to education, service, diversity, faith, and the preparation of future healthcare professionals. AUHS’s commitment to developing students intellectually, professionally, culturally, and spiritually aligns with the type of nurse educator he strives to be.
As a nurse educator, Lester believes it is important to help students connect classroom knowledge with real-world clinical judgment, professionalism, compassion, cultural humility, and leadership. Teaching at AUHS allows him to give back to the nursing profession by helping prepare the next generation of nurses to serve patients, families, and communities with competence and integrity.
He also appreciates that AUHS is a minority-serving university that prepares students from diverse backgrounds to make a positive impact on healthcare. That mission is meaningful to him personally because he understands how education can transform lives, families, communities, and future generations.
Lester currently serves as an Adjunct Instructor at American University of Health Sciences, where he teaches undergraduate nursing students in both theory and clinical settings. His role includes teaching nursing theory courses, facilitating skills lab learning, supervising students in clinical environments, assessing student learning outcomes, supporting academic progression, and helping students strengthen their clinical judgment, nursing knowledge, professionalism, and confidence.
In addition to his role at AUHS, Lester serves as a Public Health Nurse Supervisor with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Owner/Administrator of RNValor Assisted Living LLC, Care Coordination RN for the Assisted Living Waiver program, and Army Public Health Nurse Officer/Captain in the United States Army Reserve. His professional background includes public health nursing, child welfare nursing, emergency preparedness, nursing leadership, telemetry and step-down nursing, care coordination, geriatric care, healthcare operations, military leadership, and nursing education.
Lester has completed the requirements for his Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Population Health Leadership and Health Systems Leadership at American University of Health Sciences, with degree conferral pending in July 2026. His capstone paper has been finalized and is currently undergoing the university’s final quality review. His DNP education has strengthened his focus on population health, health systems leadership, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and improving outcomes at the organizational and community level.
He also earned a Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in Leadership from Grand Canyon University. His MSN in Leadership helped prepare him to lead healthcare teams, support staff development, improve systems, and advocate for patients, families, staff, and communities.
Lester earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from West Coast University. His BSN prepared him for professional nursing practice and direct patient care, including his early experience in telemetry, direct observation, and step-down nursing.
He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Fire Protection Administration and Technology from California State University, Los Angeles. This degree helped build his foundation in safety, emergency response, preparedness, leadership, and public service, which later connected naturally to his work in emergency preparedness, public health, and military service.
In his spare time, Lester enjoys spending time with family, fitness, strength training, personal development, and working on healthcare-related projects. Fitness has become an important part of maintaining discipline, stress relief, confidence, and overall well-being.
He also enjoys mentoring students, nurses, and early-career professionals who are exploring leadership, public health, military service, advanced education, or nontraditional nursing pathways. He believes nursing offers many opportunities beyond one specific setting, and he enjoys helping students see the broader possibilities within the profession.
Lester supports the university’s mission and community-centered values by participating in student development, service-oriented activities, and school initiatives that promote professional growth and community impact.
His future goals include continuing to grow as a nurse leader, educator, public health professional, Army Reserve Officer, and healthcare entrepreneur. His academic and scholarly interests include mental health literacy, reducing stigma, student support, leadership, public health, health systems improvement, and improving outcomes in nursing education. He is especially interested in helping undergraduate nursing students develop the confidence, resilience, and support systems needed to succeed academically, clinically, and professionally.
As a faculty member, he hopes to continue preparing students to think critically, practice compassionately, serve diverse communities, and understand the deeper purpose of healthcare. He wants students to recognize that nursing is not limited to one pathway. Nurses can serve in bedside care, public health, leadership, education, emergency preparedness, long-term care, community health, military healthcare, research, policy, and entrepreneurship.
One of Lester’s long-term aspirations is to continue developing nurse-led healthcare services, including compassionate assisted living and elder care through RNValor Assisted Living. His goal is to help create care environments where older adults are treated with dignity, safety, respect, and individualized attention, while also demonstrating how nurses can lead in healthcare operations and business ownership.
Lester is honored to be part of the AUHS community and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the development of future nurses. His hope is that students recognize the power of their profession and the many ways they can use their education to serve others, lead with purpose, and make a lasting impact.
His message to students is to remain open-minded about where healthcare can take them. Nursing and pharmacy are not limited to one setting. These professions can open doors to clinical care, leadership, teaching, research, public health, military service, and business ownership. The key is to remain teachable, disciplined, compassionate, culturally competent, and willing to serve.
