Infectious Disease Nurse Practitioner
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
I am currently enrolled in an accelerated master’s program on the
infectious disease adult nurse practitioner (ID-ANP) track. I chose this
area because I feel passionately about the disparity of healthcare in
underserved areas, and it has been shown that infectious diseases
disproportionately affect those with lower socioeconomic status (due to
reasons such as lack of quality healthcare and early education, as well as
the overall effects of poverty). As an ID-ANP, I expect to gain the tools
needed to help combat these issues and make lasting impacts that result in
healthier communities. I am currently involved in an effort to start a
free/reduced fee health clinic in Seattle’s Rainier Valley (an urban,
underserved neighborhood), and hope that my nursing education will allow me
the opportunity to make greater contributions to this effort, including
eventually working there full-time.
This scholarship would greatly help with the costs associated with this
program. The RN portion of the accelerated program is not subsidized and
carries a tuition of nearly $40,000 for the first 5 quarters, then graduate
tuition for the remaining ~2 years. I am fully supporting myself
financially, and keeping up with the rigorous workload and clinical schedule
does not allow much time for a job. Also, due to the economic downturn, the
amount of financial aid available from the University of Washington is very
tight. Thus, I am paying for school purely through loans, and any assistance
I can get to repay these and existing loans from undergraduate school would
be very valuable.
posted in: Washington