I know many of you already. But, for those of you I don’t know, I’m Kerry Bamrick, and a few weeks ago, I became Executive Director of this young and extraordinary organization.
I step into the large shoes of Candice Rettie, the first Executive Director of the National Nurse Practitioner Residency & Fellowship Training Consortium. (NNPRFTC). After four years of helping to create, shape, and manage virtually every aspect of NNPRFTC, Candice has retired but, to our delight, agreed to stay on in a consulting role. She is focusing on following, to completion, the Consortium’s petition to the U.S. Department of Education for recognition as an accreditor of postgraduate NP residency and fellowship programs. This will be a major milestone for the Consortium!
I come into my new role with a lengthy and deep background in postgraduate NP training, having joined this movement in its very early years. Until Sept. 1, I was program director (for 12 years) of the family nurse practitioner residency program at Community Health Center, Inc. I have been directly involved with the Consortium since its inception. In fact, in 2011, I helped bring together the five early adopters of postgraduate NP residency programs; these became the initial members of the Consortium as it developed into a nonprofit organization and developed formal standards for accreditation.
It has been incredible to witness and be part of the growth and evolution of the Consortium.
By way of personal background, I’m a Bostonian (born and raised), and Bay State- educated (undergraduate from Merrimack College and MBA from Western New England College). I have spent the last 15 years in Connecticut but have remained a loyal Boston sports fan. At the end of August, my husband and I dropped off our only child for his freshman year at college in South Carolina. (I’m doing fine with that. Really I am.) My husband and I are also finalizing our long-planned move to California, where I will establish the West Coast office of the Consortium south of L.A., in Newport Beach. More on all this in my next blog post!
As excited as I am about my new role on a personal level, I’m proud and thrilled to continue contributing to this truly national movement. Our healthcare system is changing quickly and profoundly, and I can promise that the Consortium will continue at the forefront of these changes.
On a final note, please let me hear from you. I welcome your comments, your ideas, and your participation in the Consortium, the NP movement at large, and in our nation’s healthcare future.
We need every single one of you.
Kerry Bamrick
Executive Director
National Nurse Practitioner Residency & Fellowship Training Consortium
