Family Nurse Practitioner Residency

The Holyoke Health Center’s Family Nurse Practitioner Residency is a 12-month program providing intensive training in both the clinical complexity of family practice in the safety net setting and training to a high performance, patient-centered medical home model for primary care.

The program is specifically intended for new family nurse practitioners who are committed to developing careers as primary care providers in the challenging setting of community health centers and other safety net settings.

The residency is a full-time, 12-month salaried position with a one-year employment commitment after completion of the program. The program structure includes precepted primary care sessions, specialty rotations, mentored independent clinics, didactic sessions and quality improvement.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

We’re training the residents to Holyoke Health Center’s model of high-performance health care: advanced access scheduling, planned care, the chronic care model, integrated behavioral health/primary care, and a team-based approach, with expert use of health information technology and the electronic health record.

The residency year begins with an intensive orientation to Holyoke Health Center, the neighborhoods in which the training sites are located, and the health problems of the target population. The orientation includes walking tours of neighborhoods, tours of the two Holyoke Health Center sites, meetings with community leaders, technical training on the electronic health record, and orientation by our chief medical officer on the responsibilities and privileges of medical staff participation at Holyoke Health Center.

FACULTY:

Director of FNP Residency Program

• Emily Graef FNP
  Email: Emily.Graef@hhcinc.org

Clinical Administrative Assistant and NP Residency Coordinator:

• Marisol Morales
  Email: marisol.morales@hhcinc.org

THE PROGRAM’S KEY COMPONENTS:

Precepted Continuity Clinics:
(4 sessions/week) These are the cornerstone of the residency. In precepted clinics, the FNP residents develop their own patient panel while having an expert Holyoke Health Center primary care provider (MD or APRN) 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 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Rotations may include, but not limited to: Dermatology, Reproductive & Sexual Health, Pediatrics, HIV care, Behavioral Health, Office Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) for substance dependence, Nephrology, Diabetes Education, Psychopharmacology, and Orthopedics. 

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 various complex clinical challenges most commonly encountered in FQHCs. The content of the presentations are planned to correspond to the residents’ current clinical experiences.

Quality Improvement Training:
(1 session/week) Training on Holyoke Health Center’s quality improvement model, including clinical microsystems and facilitation as well as leadership development.

Evaluations:
The Holyoke Health Center Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program provides an ongoing multi-input evaluation component using qualitative and quantitative measures.

PROGRAM GOALS:

The Nurse Practitioner Residency in Family Practice and Community Health has the following goals:

• Recruit high-quality Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) candidates for Holyoke Health Center (HHC) residency program
• Provide new FNPs with the depth, breadth, volume, and intensity of clinical training necessary to serve as primary care providers (PCPs) in the complex setting of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).
• Improve the clinical skills, confidence, productivity, and job satisfaction of new FNPs who choose to work in underserved community settings.
• Train new FNPs to a model of primary care consistent with the National Academy of Medicine (NAM, formerly Institute of Medicine—IOM)’s principles of health care and the needs of high-need and vulnerable populations.
• Increase the number of FNPs ready to serve in leadership roles in community health settings.
• Increase access to quality primary care for the underserves and special populations by training FNPs in a FQHC-based residency program that prepares residents for the full and autonomous expert care of complex underserved populations across all life cycles and in multiple settings

QUALIFICATIONS:

Applicants must be recent graduates (no more than 24 months) from an accredited Masters or DNP program, licensed (MA APRN) and credentialed (FNP-C) or license/credential-eligible as FNP, bilingual candidates (English/Spanish) strongly preferred, with a stated commitment to practice as a primary care provider in a Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) or other safety net settings.

PAY AND BENEFITS:

• Period of Appointment: 12 months; August to September
• Estimated Program Stipend: $79,000
• Full-Time Second-Year Salary: $140,000
• Eligible for sign-on bonus after completion of program.
• Benefits: Approximately 2 weeks of vacation, 6 days of sick leave, 2 personal days, and 11 federal holidays. Health and dental insurance are included. Parking is provided.
• Residents are eligible for loan replacement opportunities.

NUMBER OF POSITIONS:

Three residency positions.

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HOW TO APPLY:

Thank you for your interest in the Nurse Practitioner Residency in Family Practice and Community Health.

The following items are required to complete the application process for the Holyoke Health Center Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program:

• Holyoke Health Center Residency Application – DOWNLOAD HERE
• Curriculum vitae
• Official graduate school transcripts
• Three (3) letters of recommendation or three (3) professional references
• Personal statement and responses to essay questions (complete in application)

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PLEASE INQUIRE ABOUT THE APPLICATION PROCESS & DEADLINES AT NPRESIDENCY@HHCINC.ORG

The deadline for applications: TBA 2025
Interview Date: TBA 2025

The FNP Residency application can be submitted electronically. Download the application PDF, complete all fields, save, and attach to email, along with the required items.

Electronic applications should be submitted to npresidency@hhcinc.org

Applicants who are chosen as residency candidates will be notified to participate in an interview process. Applicants who are recent graduates are encouraged to sit for boards and apply for licensure in Massachusetts ASAP to expedite credentialing.