Our Advanced Practitioner Residency Program offers new nurse practitioner and physician assistant graduates the opportunity to gain critical job experience in a rich work environment while deepening learning through collaboration with our highly qualified healthcare provider team and community specialists.
Participants will have the opportunity to:
- Serve a panel of patients, working alongside a preceptor as needed
- Work with other primary care providers as they serve patients
- Gain experience in specialties such as women’s health, acute care, psychiatry, pediatrics, outreach care, substance use disorder care, cardiology, and more
- Learn during time each week set aside for clinical study, assessments, and study of health equity and leadership development.
- Benefit from health equity and leadership development workshops and classes offered by La Clinica's innovative education service, The Learning Well.
Program Length
12 months starting each October
Program content
The program includes:
- Time with patients under the supervision of an experienced preceptor
- One-on-one time with a mentor
- Specialty rotations in women's health, pediatrics, psychiatry, acute care, and care for those with complex mental health or substance needs
- Time with community partners in cardiology, dermatology, orthopedics, community health, geriatrics, and endocrinology
- Classroom learning that includes focuses on clinical learning as well as resiliency and professional development. Topics include leadership, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and professional coaching
- Completion of a project focused on quality improvement or health equity
Open to
Nurse practitioner and physician assistants graduating from an accredited program in 2024 or who have graduated within 18 months of the start of the October session.
Successful applicants must be licensed in Oregon by the program start date and be available to work with La Clinica's credentialing department before then.
Upon successful completion of the program, residents have the opportunity to apply for La Clinica job openings.
How to apply
Applications are open for rolling admissions Feb. 1 to June 30, 2024. Early admission decisions will be made in April. Apply here.
Our mission
The La Clinica Advanced Practitioner Residency program's purpose is to support the transition of newly graduated nurse practitioners and physican assistants from their academic programs to a robust primary care setting. The program deepens participants' clinical knowledge and provides exposure to an array of teachers, mentors, and specialists. Our graduates are confident primary care providers and future healthcare leaders.
La Clinica is a community health center group that employs several dozen healthcare providers across 29 locations in beautiful southern Oregon. We serve all people, especially those who face barriers to care. We commit to engage everyone in a welcoming, respectful, and loving way and to maintain the dignity and value of all people. Learn more about our approach.
Leadership
La Clinica Chief Medical Officer Chris Alftine, an internist, serves as the medical leadership for this program. Read more about him.
Family Nurse Practitioner Kathryn Warner serves as director for La Clinica’s Advanced Practitioner Residency Program. Kathryn earned her master’s of science in nursing degree at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and a bachelor’s of science nursing degree from Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing, Ashland campus. She is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She worked at La Clinica’s Phoenix Health Center from 2008-2014, moved to Valley Immediate Care, and then returned to work at school-based centers and COVID clinics. She previously worked as an emergency department nurse practitioner at Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass and spent seven years as a critical care nurse in various hospitals. Kathryn is honored to be able to serve La Clinica, as well as the Rogue Valley healthcare community, by supporting and encouraging new providers. When not at work, Kathryn loves riding her mountain bike with her kids and traveling.
Sarah Bieniek is residency manager for La Clinica’s Advanced Practitioner Residency Program, responsible for program administration and quality. She holds bachelor’s degrees in physics and biology, both from American University in Washington, D.C., and a master’s of public health degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She gained field experience at Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice in Medford. Sarah has interests in climate change's impacts on public health and nutrition education and loves the theater and gentle hikes to get out in nature. “I am hopeful that by helping to build a strong provider base, this program will build community trust in our health systems to people seek out care not only when they are sick, but also to build healthier lives overall,” she said.
Send questions to sbieniek@laclinicahealth.org