The Institute for Family Health Launches Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program in the Bronx

Bronx, NY (September 18, 2020) – The Institute for Family Health this week welcomed the inaugural class of a new, comprehensive family nurse practitioner (FNP) residency program in the Bronx. The Institute’s FNP residency program will provide residents with a structured, supervised year of clinical practice and continuing education, with a specific focus on serving high-need communities in the Bronx, where the Institute operates six community health centers. In its inaugural year, the program will train four residents; by 2022, up to nine residency slots will be available annually. The program builds on the Institute’s long history of innovative health workforce development programs, notably its family physician residency programs in Manhattan, the Bronx and Kingston, NY.

The program is supported by funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, awarded in 2019. The funds enable the Institute and its academic partner, the City University of New York – Lehman College, to provide post-graduate training to FNPs at the Institute’s federally qualified health centers in the Bronx. In addition to receiving hands-on clinical experience and didactic training, the nurse practitioner residents will complete a number of specialty rotations where they will gain additional experience in health care for people experiencing homelessness, integrative medicine, behavioral health and more.

Margaret Walsh, FNP-BC, an experienced family nurse practitioner and the residency’s director, said, “We are proud and delighted to train this group of dedicated family nurse practitioners in the Bronx. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has underscored what we have known for some time: people in low-income communities are at greater risk for poor health and early death, and providing access to great primary care is critical to eliminating those disparities. This program will prepare new FNPs for professional practice in high-need communities, while also providing access to care in neighborhoods with a shortage of health professionals.”

Family nurse practitioners are independently-licensed advanced practice nurses, whose scope of clinical services includes primary care for adults and children of all ages. The Institute has a long history of cultivating nurse practitioner leadership. The organization’s co-founder and Bronx clinical director, Yvonne Eisner, FNP-BC, is a family nurse practitioner who will serve as a faculty adviser to the new program. Since the Institute’s inception, Institute health centers have been staffed by primary care teams that frequently include family nurse practitioners and family physicians working side-by-side to deliver outstanding care to people of all ages.

Family nurse practitioner degree candidates are invited to visit institute.org/fnpresidency in late 2020 for information on how to apply for a residency position for the 2021-2022 academic year.

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The Institute for Family Health (www.institute.org) is a federally qualified health center network that serves more than 115,000 patients annually.  Services are available to people of all ages, regardless of ability to pay.