First Nurses Chosen to Join National Clinician Scholar's Program
The National Clinician Scholar's Program, offers an inter-professional training opportunity for nurses and physicians at four universities around the country in order to prepare them to serve as full partners in health system transformation through health care redesign, improvement and research.
Maria Yefimova, a doctoral candidate from the UCLA School of Nursing, will be among the first cohort for the UCLA Southern California Clinician Leaders Program, beginning on July 1, 2016. Yefimova shared: “I hope that NCSP will give me opportunities to expand my skills in multidisciplinary research, policy and systems-level implementation of health technology to improve lives of older adults. The tech companies that develop aging related devices are disconnected from the healthcare industry that caters to the aging consumer. As a nurse researcher with both technical knowledge and clinical expertise, I would be in a unique position to serve as a liaison between the two groups. Facilitating the engagement of engineers and older adults in health product development would benefit both parties and generate effective evidence based technology to improve lives of a vulnerable aging population.”
Another PhD candidate from the UCLA School of Nursing, Tiffany Montgomery will be joining the first cohort at the University of Pennsylvania. “I chose to apply to NCSP because of its unique combination of practice, policy, and research. I was involved in national and international health policy work with AWHONN for about three years and I missed it dearly. NCSP will fulfill my desires to contribute to the women’s health field as a clinical practitioner, health policy advocate, and novice researcher. I don’t have to focus on just one area. You can’t beat that! “ “Interdisciplinary collaboration among health care providers is critical to the future of quality health care and nurses are central to these efforts,” said Linda Sarna, who is a program director for the UCLA program. “The NCSP will provide the opportunity for nurses and physicians to work together to address the critical health care challenges and promote positive patient outcomes in our diverse community.”