Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Fellowship

Thank you for your interest in Thundermist’s Primary Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program. We are filled for our 2021-2022 Fellowship cohort. However, we invite you to learn about our program core elements, requirements and when our application period is set to open for our next cohort.

The Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program is dedicated to providing intensive training to both the clinical complexity of family practice in the safety net setting and a high-performance patient-centered medical home model for primary care.

The program is specifically intended for primary care nurse practitioners who are committed to developing careers as PCPs in the challenging setting of community health centers and other safety net settings. The fellowship is a full-time, twelve-month salaried position with benefits. There is a one-year commitment to employment at Thundermist after completion of the program. The program structure includes a dedicated preceptor for all precepted primary care sessions, specialty rotations, and didactic sessions. The program structure includes specialty rotations, didactic sessions and a dedicated preceptor for all precepted primary care sessions.

Our fellowship training program aligns directly with Thundermist’s model of high-performance, team-based health care: advanced access scheduling, planned care, the chronic care model, and integrated behavioral health/primary care.

The Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Fellowship is a 12-month program that begins annually in September and ends in August of the following year.

Here at Thundermist Health Center we want to ensure each of our fellows are setup to achieve their highest level of professional success. Our Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program will provide fellows with the opportunity to work as a member of a closely knit multi-disciplinary care team.

Thundermist recognizes the importance and benefits of our fellow’s awareness of the economic, social, and environmental challenges patients may face. The fellowship addresses these factors during the 5-week new employee/fellowship orientation. Each fellow participates in the orientation session at the start of their Fellowship year. Meet-and-greets with leaders and program staff of various programs within our communities as well as tours, either virtually or in-person, of their organizations constitute some of what occurs during this orientation period.

Fellows will receive a unique and hands-on mentoring experience from a team of highly experienced health care professionals. These professionals, known as fellowship preceptors, will work side-by-side with fellows in dedicated precepted clinics to help them develop the expertise they need to succeed in their field. Program leadership will also lead training in the responsibilities and privileges of medical staff participation at Thundermist.

In addition to our program preceptors and staff support, the Thundermist Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program will provide fellows with:

Full integration into the organization

• • Receive technical training on electronic health record.
  • Involvement in quality and practice redesign.
  • Participation in weekly fellowship. Debrief sessions with program leadership and steering committee members throughout the Fellowship year.
  • 5-week THC and Fellowship orientation.

Core Elements:

• • Highly individualized precepted experience.
  • Specialized rotations.
  • Weekly didactic sessions: scheduled learning sessions on a variety of complex, clinical challenges most commonly encountered in FQHCs.
  • Training on Thundermist Quality improvement model.
  • Ongoing multi-input evaluation component using qualitative and quantitative measures.

Direct clinical practice, including but not limited to:

• • Medication-assisted treatment.
  • Substance use screening and treatment.
  • Continuous training to Thundermist model of high-performance health system: access, continuity, planned care, team-based, prevention-focused, expert use of electronic technology and data.
  • Participation in Project ECHO® case-based distance learning platform.
  • Participation in C-TIER, a self-guided two-week Telemedicine Certification Course.

1. Precepted “Continuity Clinics”: These are the cornerstone of the fellowship. In precepted clinics, the nurse practitioner fellows develop their own patient panel while having an expert Thundermist provider (MD or APRN) exclusively assigned to them.
2. Specialty Rotations: Ten rotations in areas of high-volume/high-burden/high-risk situations most commonly encountered in the setting of a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (FQHC). Rotations include: dermatology, women’s health, pediatrics, geriatrics, infectious disease, newborn/nursery, HIV care, trans* health, addiction medicine, and behavioral health. Fellows also participate and complete a national, two-week, C-TIER Telemedicine Certification Course to help prepare them as we continue to find ways to maintain and expand patient access to care.
3. Didactic Education Sessions: 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 fellows’ current clinical experiences.
4. Quality Improvement Training: Training on Thundermist Health Center’s quality improvement model.
5. Evaluations: The Thundermist Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Training Program provides an ongoing multi-input evaluation component using qualitative and quantitative measures. Fellows complete evaluations on all components of their Fellowship experience. Preceptors, specialty rotation preceptors, support and program staff all participate in evaluations at varying times throughout the program year. Data gathered provides invaluable insight on how to continually develop and grow the program.

Through our admissions policy, we select three fully qualified Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Fellows.

Application Process & Requirements

• We start accepting applications from December 15 and close the application period on March 15 each year.
• Fellowship program admissions policy requires a complete application packet for a candidate’s consideration to the next step, the interview round. Fellowship program and agency staff members and leadership meet with pre-screened candidates for day-long interview and orientation sessions.
• Board Certification as Family Nurse Practitioner (Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner) through either the AANP and/or ANCC.
• You must have all applicable licensure by the time the program starts: RI APRN, CSR and RN Licensure (All Active); DEA registration at a minimum in-process status.
• Participate, collaborate, and comply with all aspects of Thundermist new onboarding provider Credentialing and Privileging Processes.
• We recognize COVID-19 has greatly affected clinical rotation availability nationally. For this reason, we do accept nurse practitioner’s that have graduated from their programs 12 months to 18 months after completion of their programs.
• Applicants must be a graduate of a master’s or DNP program.
• Bilingual preferred.
• A stated commitment to practice as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner in safety net settings and an interest in integrated health care practice.

For more information, please email: NPFellowship@ThundermistHealth.org.