Introduction
DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC) is pleased to announce that applications are open for its Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Training Program. The residency is a full-time,12-month salaried position with DCHC's benefits of employment. Residents are provided with intensive training to both the clinical complexity of family practice in the safety net setting, and training to a high performance, patient-centered medical home model of primary care.The program is specifically intended for new Family Nurse Practitioners who are committed to developing careers as PCPs in the setting of community health centers and other safety net settings.
The program structure includes precepted primary care sessions, specialty rotations, mentored independent clinics, didactic sessions, quality improvement and leadership development.
DCHC has been providing compassionate health care services in New Orleans for 190 years. The organization, formerly Daughters of Charity, now operates 12 health centers across the metro area. They offer health care services including care for chronic illnesses like asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression, as well as women's health, behavioral health, dental, optometry, pharmacy, and podiatry. The organization's Mission is to improve the health and well-being of the community by delivering safe and effective health care services that leave no one behind.
Meet the Team
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| Robert Post, MD Medical Director DePaul Community Health Centers |
Tanya Theriault MSN, FNP-BC Nurse Practitioner Residency Program Director DePaul Community Health Centers |
Krystal Howard DNP, APRN, FNP-BC Lead Nurse Practitioner Director of Clinical Education DePaul Community Health Centers |
About the NP Residency Program
Nurse Practitioner (NP) residents will be trained under DePaul Community Health Centers’ (DCHC) model of high-performance health care: advanced access scheduling, planned care, the chronic care model, integrated behavioral health/primary care, team-based, with expert use of health information technology and the electronic health record.Five NP residency slots are available for the 2024-2025 NP Residency Cohort at DCHC. The Family Nurse Practitioner Residency program runs from August 29, 2024 - August 29, 2025.
The residency year begins with intensive orientation to DCHC, the neighborhoods in which the training sites are located, and the health problems of the target population. This will include walking tours of neighborhoods, tours of the DCHC sites statewide, meetings with community leaders, technical training on electronic health record systems, and orientation by our NP Residency team that will brief residents on the responsibilities and privileges of medical staff participation at DCHC.
The Residency Has Five Key Components:
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Precepted “Continuity Clinics”
(4 sessions/week) These are the cornerstone of the residency. In precepted clinics, the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) residents develop their own patient panel while having an expert DePaul Community Health Centers primary care provider (MD, APRN or PA) exclusively assigned to them.
Specialty Rotations:
(2 sessions/week x 1/month) Specialty rotations in areas of high-volume/high-burden/high-risk situations most commonly encountered in the setting of the FQHC. Rotations may include, but not limited to: Orthopedics, Dermatology, Women’s Health, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Newborn/Nursery, HIV care, MAT, Adult Behavioral Health, Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health, Podiatry and Nephrology.
Mentored Clinics:
(2 sessions/week) During mentored clinics, the FNP residents work as a member of a team, and see patients at the delegation of the primary care providers, who remain available for consultations. The focus is on the practice of episodic and acute care visits.
Didactic Education Sessions:
(1 session/week) Formal learning sessions on a variety of complex clinical challenges most commonly encountered in FQHCs. The content of the presentations is planned to correspond to the residents’ current clinical experiences.Quality Improvement Training:
(1 session/week) Residents will receive training under DCHC’s quality improvement model, includingclinical microsystems and facilitation as well as leadership and professional development. Residents will also receive ongoing multi-input performance evaluations that use qualitative and quantitative measures.
Program Goals
DCHC’s NP Residency in Family Practice and Community Health has the following goals:- Increase access to quality primary care for the underserved and special populations by training Family Nurse Practitioners in a FQHC-based residency program that prepares residents for full and autonomous expert care of complex underserved populations across all life cycles and in multiple settings
- Provide new NPs with a depth, breadth, volume and intensity of clinical training necessary to serve as primary care providers in the complex setting of the country’s FQHCs
- Improve the clinical skills, confidence, productivity, and job satisfaction of new nurse practitioners who choose to work in underserved community settings, as well as contribute to employer satisfaction and workforce retention
- Increase the number of NPs ready to serve in leadership roles in community health settings
Qualifications
Applicants must be recent graduates (within 18 months) from an accredited Masters or DNP program, licensed (LA APRN) and credentialed (FNP-C) or license/credential-eligible as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Bilingual, Spanish speaking candidates are encouraged. Applicants must have a stated commitment to practice as a primary care provider in a Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) or other safety net settings.If you have any questions, please e-mail Tanya Theriault, Program Director, at ttheriault@dcsno.org
How to Apply
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Thank you for your interest in DePaul Community Health Centers’ (DCHC) Nurse Practitioner Residency in Family Practice and Community Health.The following information is required to complete the application process for the program:
- DCHC Residency Application
- Curriculum vitae or resume
- Official graduate school transcripts
- Three (3) letters of recommendation
- Personal statement and responses to essay questions
If you have any questions, please e-mail ttheriault@dcsno.org
At this time we have closed our recruitment for the FNP Residency program. Our cohort for the 2024-2025 class is filled. Applications for the 2025-2026 program year will open January 2025. If you are interested in applying please check back at that time, or reach out to our team at depaulnpresidency@dcsno.org. Thank you!
