Residency & Fellowship Programs
provided funds to expand the role of FQHCs in
providing care to underserved populations, and
NP residencies are seen as one means of encour-
aging and preparing NPs to practice in the com-
munity health center setting.
3
Primary care residency programs at FQHCs are
typically 12 months long and consist of several
components: continuity clinics where preceptors
work alongside the residents as the residents
develop their own patient panel, rotations
through specialty clinics, team clinics, and
didactic education sessions. Admission to
residency programs is highly competitive. The
family NP residency program at CHC in 2011 had
45 finalist applicants competing for four
positions.
3
Also, while NP residencies do provide a
stipend, this is less than what NPs would typically
be paid in their first year of practice.
Currently Available Programs
Specialty and subspecialty fellowships are grow-
ing alongside primary care and family health resi-
dencies. Fellowships are available across a wide
range of specialties and subspecialties, including,
but not limited to, critical care, gastroenterology,
cardiology, dermatology, oncology, pediatric
hematology-oncology, and palliative care. Howev-
er, it is not clear how many residency and fellow-
ship options exist, since these programs are not
centrally tracked. The programs listed here are a
partial list of residencies and fellowships for NPs
(see Programs sidebar).
Future Directions
There is evidence that residency programs do
smooth the transition to practice for new NPs.
1
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