Professional Development

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) hold advanced degrees and play an integral role in the care of patients at the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), CU-School of Medicine, and CU-College of Nursing. They provide quality and cost-effective care while working collaboratively within the interprofessional team.

​As advanced practice providers (APPs) develop clinical expertise, they are encouraged to share their knowledge with colleagues and learners by expanding beyond their clinical role to take on additional roles:

• Lead APP grand rounds or journal club. Recent topics have included “Care for Medically Vulnerable Population in a Disaster Setting” and "To Close or to Not Close the PFO."
• Serve as a clinical preceptor
• Guest lecture within the CU School of Medicine
• Present at a local or national conference
• Contribute to a medical textbook 

A benefit of working at an academic medical center is the opportunity for professional growth and development. Advanced practice providers (APPs) are encouraged to pursue activities that support the mission of University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: clinical care, education, research, and service. APPs that are interested in clinical research or quality improvement projects can be connected to mentors within the health system who can offer ongoing guidance and resources.

The University of Colorado provides opportunities to become involved in many areas, including research. At an institution focused on the highest quality of care and innovative technology, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by expert mentors who share a passion for developing and sharing the latest knowledge in clinical care. Research has provided me a broad view of care delivery and I have worked to develop initiatives to improve the patient and family experience. - Colleen McIlvennan, DNP, Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation and co-investigator on several grants, including a $2 million PCORI grant

As I grow my career here at the University of Colorado, there have been tremendous opportunities to expand my career as both a clinician and as a research. I have been fortunate to have several mentors across the campus who have helped guide and support me as I develop new and ongoing research projects. Not only do these research experiences allow me to grow my careers as an APP and as a learner, but also helps provide high quality care to all oncology patients across the continuum of care. - Christan Bartsch, MPH, PA-C Surgical Oncology   2016 Cohort, Certificate Training Program,  Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety and Efficiency

Publications Authored by APPs

• Seggelke, Stacey, CNS, Lindsay, Mark, PA-C, Hazlett, Ingrid, APRN, Sanagorski, Rebecca, FNP-BC, Eckel, Robert, MD, and Wang-Low, Cecila, MD. Cardiovascular Safety of Antidiabetic Drugs in the Hospital Setting, Current Diabetes Reports. August 2017.
• Judy Knudsen, PA-C: Co-Authored "Let’s be Smart about Improving Pain: A Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) Safety Checklist." Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. February 2017
• Robert Montgomery, CNS: Co-Author of two articles published in Journal of Trauma Nursing and Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses Journal regarding Multimodal Pain Management.   December 2016.
• Jennifer Rodgers, DNP: Co-Authored "Providing Care to COPD Patients Using In-Home Visits by Nurse Practitioners" Journal of Nursing Care Quality. July 2018.
• Carlin Callaway, DNP:  Co-authored "Patient Handoff Processes, " Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. August 2018.

APP Poster Presentations

• Zach Asher, PA-C and Jennifer Rodgers, DNP  presented a poster titled "Creation of the Lead Advanced Practice Council at the University of Colorado" at the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium (7/2018, Keystone, CO)
• Kasey Boden, NP presented a poster titled "Successful Implementation of an APP Post-Graduate Fellowship in a Hospitalist Team within an Academic Center" at the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium (7/2018, Keystone, CO)
• Christan Bartsch, PA-C Surgical Oncology presented a poster titled "Improving outcomes after pancreatic surgery: a multidisciplinary approach to reducing LOS, morbidity, and readmissions" at the  ​4th Annual CU Department of Medicine Quality and Safety Symposium (April 2018)
• Sarah Witowski, PA-C Hospital Medicine presented a poster titled "Patient Perceptions of Provider Bedside Communication and Use of the Whiteboard Communication Tool" at the ​4th Annual CU Department of Medicine Quality and Safety Symposium (4/2018, Aurora, CO)
• Colin Catel, PA-C Neurologic Surgery presented a poster titled "Strategies to Reduce Readmissions for Hyponatremia after Transsphenoidal Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas" at the ​4th Annual CU Department of Medicine Quality and Safety Symposium (4/2018, Aurora, CO)
• Megan O'Meara, DNP Transplant Hepatology, gave a poster presentation "PTSD in Adult Transplant Recipients" at the AASLD Liver Meeting (11/2018, San Francisco)
• Michael Conway, PA-C Hospital Medicine gave a poster presentation at the Society of General Internal Medicine Mountain West Meeting (10/2018, Salt Lake City.)

 

 

APPs frequently expand beyond their clinical role by pursuing opportunities for involvement on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and in the medical community.  Here are specific examples of how APPs can make an impact.

Join an APP committee

• Steering committee: The purpose of the Steering committee is to enhance faculty development and career growth by promoting best practice initiatives, supporting continuing professional development and education, advocating for the APP professions, and offering resources for APP research-oriented projects.
• Practice Leads Committee: The purpose of the Practice Leads committee is to collaborate with health system leadership teams, represent APPs at department/section meetings, and develop new APP onboarding, orientation, and mentorship plans.
• Communication Strategy committee: The purpose of the Communication Strategy committee is to develop a communication plan that facilitates communication and collaboration among APPs working at University of Colorado Hospital.
• Continuing Education committee: The purpose of the Continuing Education committee is to identify learning needs and deliver education opportunities that promote professional development and increase clinical knowledge and skills.

Mentor

The success of any healthcare organization depends on the quality of teaching, clinical care, research and scholarship, and service performed by its APP faculty. APPs are encouraged to mentor to enhance in the areas of research, education and clinical activities to promote professional growth as well as retention. The Colorado Mentoring Training (CO-Mentor) Program is a free program offered to faculty members who have no formal training in mentorship.  Evidence-based strategies will teach mentor/mentee pairs the skills they need to get the most out of their mentoring relationships.  

Participate in a health system initiative

Regardless of experience level or interest, there is no shortage of opportunities for APP involvement in health system initiatives!​

• Cally Bartley, NP in Dermatology and Brianna Hoffner, NP in Medical Oncology: members of the Department of Medicine Clinician Burnout Task Force.
• Amanda Brill, NP in Neurosurgery: at-large member of the University of Colorado Medical Board
• Colleen McIlvennan, NP in Cardiology and Glen Peterson, NP in Bone Marrow Transplant: CU Faculty Development Advisory Council
• Jennie Johnson, PA-C in Pain Medicine and Cally Bartley, NP in Dermatology: members of the UCHealth Innovation Council
• Cheryl Meguid, DNP Surgical Oncology: member of the CU School of Medicine Faculty Promotions committee.

Volunteer at the local, state or national level

• David Braun, PA-C in Emergency Medicine: Colorado House Delegate for the American Academy of Physician Assistants (2018-2019)
• Jennifer Rodgers, DNP in Pulmonary: President of the Colorado Society of Advanced Practice Nurses (2018-2019)
• Anastacia Wall, PA-C in Neurology: Practice Committee of the American Academy of Neurology