I am a psychiatric RN pursuing a psychiatric mental health DNP path due to my lifelong desire to bridge mental health disparities and advocate for the underserved. My desire to work in mental health sparked from a young age, growing up in a household with a parent who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, who did not receive adequate mental health care. This inevitably affected my family and I. I began my silent struggle with mental health in elementary school. Dozens of doctors appointments and various antidepressants later, I grew up with a mistrust of the mental health system. I felt that no provider I saw attempted to truly understand me as an individual, and I often felt like another “case” to them. I felt that every time I attempted to get help for myself and for my family, my concerns fell on deaf ears. Eventually, trying to ask for help added to the mental exhaustion I felt and I decided to fight my battles alone. This feeling is what lit my fire for advocacy; I grew determined to ensure other families did not experience what mine did and knew a career in mental health was the way I could make that difference. My journey began with my first degree in psychology at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, I gained mental health and medical experience during my time as a counselor and medical assistant. Upon graduation, I did not have a clear idea of what role I wanted to serve in healthcare, but I knew that I felt passionately about mental health, patient care, and patient advocacy. This is what pushed me to pursue a career in nursing. In 2022, I completed my BSN at New Mexico State University. While I loved all my clinical rotations, I felt I found my true calling during my 3-month psychiatric clinical. I worked with patients across the lifespan in pediatric, dual-diagnosis, and PTSD settings. I believe my patients felt the empathy I brought to my nursing care. To further develop my psychiatric nursing skills, I elected to do my BSN capstone project in a higher acuity setting. During my capstone, I learned to provide nursing care for patients experiencing suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, etc. Post-licensing, I decided to move to Texas to begin my career in psychiatric nursing, and I learned to work with high-acuity psychiatric patients of all ages. Through my nursing care, I've quickly realized that my passion for psychiatry and advocating for my patients has made me want to improve mental health medicine as a whole; I want to become the advocate I wish I had when I was younger for all of my patients. Every time I think about the responsibility attached to that title, I think of my family, the younger version of myself, and all of my patients who have told me that they have given up on their mental health because they were tired of feeling invisible, and it no longer feels like a desire, but my ability to contribute to the world.

I am a psychiatric RN pursuing a psychiatric mental health DNP path due to my lifelong desire to bridge mental health disparities and advocate for the underserved. My desire to work in mental health sparked from a young age, growing up in a household with a parent who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, who did not receive adequate mental health care. This inevitably affected my family and I. I began my silent struggle with mental health in elementary school. Dozens of doctors appointments and various antidepressants later, I grew up with a mistrust of the mental health system. I felt that no provider I saw attempted to truly understand me as an individual, and I often felt like another “case” to them. I felt that every time I attempted to get help for myself and for my family, my concerns fell on deaf ears. Eventually, trying to ask for help added to the mental exhaustion I felt and I decided to fight my battles alone. This feeling is what lit my fire for advocacy; I grew determined to ensure other families did not experience what mine did and knew a career in mental health was the way I could make that difference. My journey began with my first degree in psychology at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, I gained mental health and medical experience during my time as a counselor and medical assistant. Upon graduation, I did not have a clear idea of what role I wanted to serve in healthcare, but I knew that I felt passionately about mental health, patient care, and patient advocacy. This is what pushed me to pursue a career in nursing. In 2022, I completed my BSN at New Mexico State University. While I loved all my clinical rotations, I felt I found my true calling during my 3-month psychiatric clinical. I worked with patients across the lifespan in pediatric, dual-diagnosis, and PTSD settings. I believe my patients felt the empathy I brought to my nursing care. To further develop my psychiatric nursing skills, I elected to do my BSN capstone project in a higher acuity setting. During my capstone, I learned to provide nursing care for patients experiencing suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, etc. Post-licensing, I decided to move to Texas to begin my career in psychiatric nursing, and I learned to work with high-acuity psychiatric patients of all ages. Through my nursing care, I've quickly realized that my passion for psychiatry and advocating for my patients has made me want to improve mental health medicine as a whole; I want to become the advocate I wish I had when I was younger for all of my patients. Every time I think about the responsibility attached to that title, I think of my family, the younger version of myself, and all of my patients who have told me that they have given up on their mental health because they were tired of feeling invisible, and it no longer feels like a desire, but my ability to contribute to the world.

I am a psychiatric RN pursuing a psychiatric mental health DNP path due to my lifelong desire to bridge mental health disparities and advocate for the underserved. My desire to work in mental health sparked from a young age, growing up in a household with a parent who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, who did not receive adequate mental health care. This inevitably affected my family and I. I began my silent struggle with mental health in elementary school. Dozens of doctors appointments and various antidepressants later, I grew up with a mistrust of the mental health system. I felt that no provider I saw attempted to truly understand me as an individual, and I often felt like another “case” to them. I felt that every time I attempted to get help for myself and for my family, my concerns fell on deaf ears. Eventually, trying to ask for help added to the mental exhaustion I felt and I decided to fight my battles alone. This feeling is what lit my fire for advocacy; I grew determined to ensure other families did not experience what mine did and knew a career in mental health was the way I could make that difference. My journey began with my first degree in psychology at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, I gained mental health and medical experience during my time as a counselor and medical assistant. Upon graduation, I did not have a clear idea of what role I wanted to serve in healthcare, but I knew that I felt passionately about mental health, patient care, and patient advocacy. This is what pushed me to pursue a career in nursing. In 2022, I completed my BSN at New Mexico State University. While I loved all my clinical rotations, I felt I found my true calling during my 3-month psychiatric clinical. I worked with patients across the lifespan in pediatric, dual-diagnosis, and PTSD settings. I believe my patients felt the empathy I brought to my nursing care. To further develop my psychiatric nursing skills, I elected to do my BSN capstone project in a higher acuity setting. During my capstone, I learned to provide nursing care for patients experiencing suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, etc. Post-licensing, I decided to move to Texas to begin my career in psychiatric nursing, and I learned to work with high-acuity psychiatric patients of all ages. Through my nursing care, I've quickly realized that my passion for psychiatry and advocating for my patients has made me want to improve mental health medicine as a whole; I want to become the advocate I wish I had when I was younger for all of my patients. Every time I think about the responsibility attached to that title, I think of my family, the younger version of myself, and all of my patients who have told me that they have given up on their mental health because they were tired of feeling invisible, and it no longer feels like a desire, but my ability to contribute to the world.

I have always enjoyed holding roles through which I can create true change and impact my community through a relationship of trust. I have found leadership to be the best way to achieve this. While I have served in multiple leadership roles, I will highlight two roles that I believe showcase my ability to demonstrate leadership in a DNP pathway. During my undergraduate studies, I grew connected to my fellow community of peers who were pursuing a career in medicine and started becoming more involved in medical interest groups. Through my involvement with this community, I joined a pre-health society and was later elected president of this organization during my senior year. Upon graduation, I was still in contact with a few members who wrote to me, expressing concerns of being unable to maintain the organization at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.Seeing the need for mentorship, I created a graduate/alumni advisor role for the group. I continued to serve in leadership roles after I graduated through my work as a medical assistant for a newly established healthcare clinic, serving the medicare and medicaid populations. As a new facility, my manager wanted to prioritize patient satisfaction and healthcare outcomes. As someone with vested interest in understanding how to improve quality outcomes, I started performing meta-analyses of the frequency of patients performing their recommended age-based health screenings, number of retained patients, and overall patient satisfaction with our facility. In doing this, I was able to identify gaps in our care and develop interventions to address these gaps along with my manager. Due to my initiative, my manager implemented a quality outcomes officer role within the clinic. After addressing the identified gaps, our clinic had the highest quarterly satisfaction score in our region and we continued to maintain our high quality outcomes. I believe I demonstrated my leadership skills in these and other roles as I create trust, community, and long-term solutions in the work I do.

I am a psychiatric RN pursuing a psychiatric mental health DNP path due to my lifelong desire to bridge mental health disparities and advocate for the underserved. My desire to work in mental health sparked from a young age, growing up in a household with a parent who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, who did not receive adequate mental health care. This inevitably affected my family and I. I began my silent struggle with mental health in elementary school. Dozens of doctors appointments and various antidepressants later, I grew up with a mistrust of the mental health system. I felt that no provider I saw attempted to truly understand me as an individual, and I often felt like another “case” to them. I felt that every time I attempted to get help for myself and for my family, my concerns fell on deaf ears. Eventually, trying to ask for help added to the mental exhaustion I felt and I decided to fight my battles alone. This feeling is what lit my fire for advocacy; I grew determined to ensure other families did not experience what mine did and knew a career in mental health was the way I could make that difference. My journey began with my first degree in psychology at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, I gained mental health and medical experience during my time as a counselor and medical assistant. Upon graduation, I did not have a clear idea of what role I wanted to serve in healthcare, but I knew that I felt passionately about mental health, patient care, and patient advocacy. This is what pushed me to pursue a career in nursing. In 2022, I completed my BSN at New Mexico State University. While I loved all my clinical rotations, I felt I found my true calling during my 3-month psychiatric clinical. I worked with patients across the lifespan in pediatric, dual-diagnosis, and PTSD settings. I believe my patients felt the empathy I brought to my nursing care. I learned to provide nursing care for patients experiencing suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, etc. Post-licensing, I decided to move to Texas to begin my career in psychiatric nursing, and I learned to work with high-acuity psychiatric patients of all ages. Through my nursing care, I've quickly realized that my passion for psychiatry and advocating for my patients has made me want to improve mental health medicine as a whole; I want to become the advocate I wish I had when I was younger for all of my patients. Every time I think about the responsibility attached to that title, I think of my family, the younger version of myself, and all of my patients who have told me that they have given up on their mental health because they were tired of feeling invisible, and it no longer feels like a desire, but my ability to contribute to the world.

I am a psychiatric RN pursuing a psychiatric mental health DNP path due to my lifelong desire to bridge mental health disparities and advocate for the underserved. My desire to work in mental health sparked from a young age, growing up in a household with a parent who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, who did not receive adequate mental health care. This inevitably affected my family and I. I began my silent struggle with mental health in elementary school. Dozens of doctors appointments and various antidepressants later, I grew up with a mistrust of the mental health system. I felt that no provider I saw attempted to truly understand me as an individual, and I often felt like another “case” to them. I felt that every time I attempted to get help for myself and for my family, my concerns fell on deaf ears. Eventually, trying to ask for help added to the mental exhaustion I felt and I decided to fight my battles alone. This feeling is what lit my fire for advocacy; I grew determined to ensure other families did not experience what mine did and knew a career in mental health was the way I could make that difference. My journey began with my first degree in psychology at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, I gained mental health and medical experience during my time as a counselor and medical assistant. Upon graduation, I did not have a clear idea of what role I wanted to serve in healthcare, but I knew that I felt passionately about mental health, patient care, and patient advocacy. This is what pushed me to pursue a career in nursing. In 2022, I completed my BSN at New Mexico State University. While I loved all my clinical rotations, I felt I found my true calling during my 3-month psychiatric clinical. I worked with patients across the lifespan in pediatric, dual-diagnosis, and PTSD settings. I believe my patients felt the empathy I brought to my nursing care. To further develop my psychiatric nursing skills, I elected to do my BSN capstone project in a higher acuity setting. During my capstone, I learned to provide nursing care for patients experiencing suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, etc. Post-licensing, I decided to move to Texas to begin my career in psychiatric nursing, and I learned to work with high-acuity psychiatric patients of all ages. Through my nursing care, I've quickly realized that my passion for psychiatry and advocating for my patients has made me want to improve mental health medicine as a whole; I want to become the advocate I wish I had when I was younger for all of my patients. Every time I think about the responsibility attached to that title, I think of my family, the younger version of myself, and all of my patients who have told me that they have given up on their mental health because they were tired of feeling invisible, and it no longer feels like a desire, but my ability to contribute to the world.

I am a psychiatric RN pursuing a psychiatric mental health DNP path due to my lifelong desire to bridge mental health disparities and advocate for the underserved. My desire to work in mental health sparked from a young age, growing up in a household with a parent who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, who did not receive adequate mental health care. This inevitably affected my family and I. I began my silent struggle with mental health in elementary school. Dozens of doctors appointments and various antidepressants later, I grew up with a mistrust of the mental health system. I felt that no provider I saw attempted to truly understand me as an individual, and I often felt like another “case” to them. This is what lit my fire for advocacy. I grew determined to ensure other families did not experience what mine did and knew a career in mental health was the way I could make that difference. My journey began with my first degree in psychology at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, I gained mental health and medical experience during my time as a counselor and medical assistant. Upon graduation, I did not have a clear idea of what role I wanted to serve in healthcare, but I knew that I felt passionately about patient care and patient advocacy. This is what pushed me to pursue a career in nursing. In 2022, I completed my BSN at New Mexico State University. While I loved all my clinical rotations, I felt I found my true calling during my 3-month psychiatric clinical. I worked with patients across the lifespan in pediatric, dual-diagnosis, and PTSD settings. I believe my patients felt the empathy I brought to my nursing care. To further develop my psychiatric nursing skills, I elected to do my BSN capstone project in a higher acuity setting. During my capstone, I learned to provide nursing care for patients experiencing suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, etc. Post-licensing, I decided to move to Texas to begin my career in psychiatric nursing, and I learned to work with high-acuity psychiatric patients of all ages and quickly realized that my passion for psychiatry and advocating for my patients has made me improve mental health medicine as a whole. Every time I think about the responsibility attached to that title, I think of my mother, the younger version of myself, and all of my patients who have told me that they have given up on their mental health because they were tired of feeling invisible, and it no longer feels like a desire, but my ability to contribute to the world.

I am pursuing a psychiatric mental health DNP path due to my lifelong desire to bridge mental health disparities and advocate for the underserved. My desire to work in mental health sparked from a young age, growing up in a household with a parent who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, who did not receive adequate mental health care. This inevitably affected my family and I. I began my silent struggle with mental health in elementary school. Dozens of doctors appointments and various antidepressants later, I grew up with a mistrust of the mental health system. I felt that no provider I saw attempted to truly understand me as an individual, and I often felt like another “case” to them. This is what lit my fire for advocacy. I grew determined to ensure other families did not experience what mine did and knew a career in mental health was the way I could make that difference. My journey began with my first degree in psychology at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, I gained mental health and medical experience during my time as a counselor and medical assistant. Upon graduation, I did not have a clear idea of what role I wanted to serve in healthcare, but I knew that I felt passionately about patient care and patient advocacy. This is what pushed me to pursue a career in nursing. In 2022, I completed my BSN at New Mexico State University. While I loved all my clinical rotations, I felt I found my true calling during my 3-month psychiatric clinical. I worked with patients across the lifespan in pediatric, dual-diagnosis, and PTSD settings. I believe my patients felt the empathy I brought to my nursing care. To further develop my psychiatric nursing skills, I elected to do my BSN capstone project in a higher acuity setting. During my capstone, I learned to provide nursing care for patients experiencing suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, etc. Post-licensing, I decided to move to Texas to begin my career in psychiatric nursing and learned to work with high-acuity psychiatric patients of all ages. I very quickly realized that my passion for psychiatry and for advocating for my patients made me want to improve the flaws I saw in the world of mental health medicine. Every time I think about the responsibility attached to that title, I think of my family, the younger version of myself, and all of my patients who have told me that they have given up on their mental health because they were tired of feeling invisible, and it no longer feels like a desire, but my ability to contribute to the world.

I was raised in a small, rural village in Southern India as well as in Santa Fe, New Mexico; two completely different worlds that sparked my interest in patient care. When I was a teenager, my grandma was diagnosed with stage 4 colon-rectal cancer, and I would accompany her to chemotherapy and medical visits. In doing so, I was exposed to the healthcare system in India from a very young age and began to see the discrepancies in care that patients experienced in the healthcare system, especially in terms of the resources available to them. I remember walking into the emergency department waiting room and seeing lines of acutely ill patients suffering while a wealthy local politician walked to the front of the line and was seen immediately for his cold symptoms. Seeing this injustice made me want to advocate for underrepresented patient populations and become their voice. These discrepancies continued almost halfway across the world, in New Mexico, while my family struggled to navigate life with a mother who battled debilitating mental illness and was not involved in our lives because she didn't understand how to be. Growing up in this dynamic made me very aware of the lack of adequate care my mother was receiving; it seemed like every healthcare provider we saw did not care about my mother's quality of life or well-being. This is what further sparked my desire to pursue a career in medicine and work with underserved populations in New Mexico. As I gained more exposure to the healthcare field, I began to see the large discrepancies in care these patients experienced, especially in terms of their mental health and the resources available to them. I see many parallels between the limitation of vital resources such as the affordability of medical insurance and care, deficits in the number of primary healthcare providers available to communities, and a general lack of knowledge of the healthcare system in the populous between the rural communities of New Mexico and India. As a little girl, I remember experiencing these issues and wanting to help people who were going through similar situations. This, and my mother's quality of care, is what ultimately motivated me to go into nursing, specifically. In all the varying roles I have been able to serve in the healthcare field thus far, I've realized that my true passion lies in establishing relationships with patients and being a source of knowledge and comfort, as well as someone who can empathize with their situations. I believe that a career in nursing and becoming a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner is the best way for me to achieve this goal. I plan on using my career to advocate for underrepresented patient populations, evolve the stigmas surrounding mental health and illness, and serve as a source of knowledge, comfort, and understanding for my patients. Becoming a nurse practitioner is much more than a career to me; it is my opportunity to use the knowledge I will gain and the resources I will attain to one day better serve my community.

When I think of the philosophies, values, and customs that have served as a template for my life, I think of my Southern Indian heritage; I was raised to respect and be kind to others, to seek out the good qualities in those around me, to stay humble, and to always be resolute and persistent in accomplishing whatever I put my mind to. This has influenced my goals because regardless of what I do in my life, my ultimate goal is to serve those around me and help them improve their quality of life. In Southern India, there is no philosophy of “every man for himself” ; our society is based on serving one another and improving society for the benefit of, not just ourselves, but our respective communities. I’ve witnessed the adversities that some patients face in their communities, especially in regards to our healthcare system. Coming from a small, rural village in Southern India, I see many parallels between the limitation of vital resources such as the affordability of medical insurance and care, deficits in the number of primary health care providers available to communities, and a general lack of knowledge of the healthcare system in the populous between the rural communities of New Mexico and my hometown. As a little girl, I remember experiencing these issues and wanting to help people who were going through similar situations. This is what ultimately motivated me to seek a career in healthcare and in nursing, specifically. In all the varying roles I have been able to serve in the healthcare field thus far, I've realized that my true passion lies in establishing relationships with patients and being a source of knowledge and comfort, as well as someone who can empathize with their situations. I believe that a career in nursing is the best way for me to achieve this goal. Becoming a nurse practioner is much more than a career to me; it is my opportunity to use the knowledge I will gain and the resources I will attain to one day better serve my community.

I was raised in a seemingly "picture-perfect" Indian-American household; a father who left his comfortable family and friends in India to provide a better life for himself and his children; a mother who loved and cared for us unconditionally; a brother who set the standard for the "American Dream" by becoming Valedictorian of his graduating class and pursuing a career in engineering without having to spend a dime of his own money on it; and myself, who followed in his footsteps and graduated at the top of my class and pursued a career in medicine at the University of New Mexico with a full-ride scholarship. Although this was the facade that my family found comfort hiding behind, the reality of our situation was that we were struggling to navigate a life with a mother who battled debilitating mental illness and was not involved in our lives because she didn't understand how to be. Growing up in this dynamic made me very aware of the lack of adequate care my mother was receiving; it seemed like every healthcare provider we saw did not care about my mother's quality of life or well-being. This is what sparked my desire to pursue a career in medicine and work with underserved populations in New Mexico. As I gained more exposure to the healthcare field, I began to see the large discrepancies in care these patients experienced, especially in terms of their mental health and the resources available to them. Coming from a small, rural village in Southern India, I see many parallels between the limitation of vital resources such as the affordability of medical insurance and care, deficits in the number of primary health care providers available to communities, and a general lack of knowledge of the healthcare system in the populous between the rural communities of New Mexico and my hometown. As a little girl, I remember experiencing these issues and wanting to help people who were going through similar situations. This, and my mother's quality of care, is what ultimately motivated me to go into nursing, specifically. In all the varying roles I have been able to serve in the healthcare field thus far, I've realized that my true passion lies in establishing relationships with patients and being a source of knowledge and comfort, as well as someone who can empathize with their situations. I believe that a career in nursing and becoming a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner is the best way for me to achieve this goal. I plan on using my career to advocate for underrepresented patient populations and evolving the stigmas surrounding mental health and illness. Becoming a nurse practitioner is much more than a career to me; it is my opportunity to use the knowledge I will gain and the resources I will attain to one day better serve my community.

When I think of the philosophies, values, and customs that have served as a template for my life, I think of my Southern Indian heritage; I was raised to respect and be kind to others, to seek out the good qualities in those around me, to stay humble, and to always be resolute and persistent in accomplishing whatever I put my mind to. This has influenced my goals because regardless of what I do in my life, my ultimate goal is to serve those around me and help them improve their quality of life. In Southern India, there is no philosophy of “every man for himself” ; our society is based on serving one another and improving society for the benefit of, not just ourselves, but our respective communities. I’ve witnessed the adversities that some patients face in their communities, especially in regards to our healthcare system. Coming from a small, rural village in Southern India, I see many parallels between the limitation of vital resources such as the affordability of medical insurance and care, deficits in the number of primary health care providers available to communities, and a general lack of knowledge of the healthcare system in the populous between the rural communities of New Mexico and my hometown. As a little girl, I remember experiencing these issues and wanting to help people who were going through similar situations. This is what ultimately motivated me to seek a career in healthcare and in nursing, specifically. In all the varying roles I have been able to serve in the healthcare field thus far, I've realized that my true passion lies in establishing relationships with patients and being a source of knowledge and comfort, as well as someone who can empathize with their situations. I believe that a career in nursing is the best way for me to achieve this goal. Becoming a nurse practioner is much more than a career to me; it is my opportunity to use the knowledge I will gain and the resources I will attain to one day better serve my community.

I plan on making a positive impact on the world through pursuing a career in medicine by making quality healthcare more accessible to high-need communities and populations and shifting the focus of healthcare away from a business-centered model to a patient-centered and preventative model. If I had to pick one person in my life who I consider to be my hero, it would be my grandma. My grandma was the first woman in her village in Kerala, India to serve a role that only men had traditionally served until she came along. She served her community by becoming a teacher with self-taught knowledge and eventually worked her way up to becoming the villages' first female principal. In doing so, she not only encouraged her young female students to fearlessly chase after their dreams but also became a strong voice in her community. My desire to serve my community and those around me comes from my grandma and it is something that motivates me to create positive ripples of change wherever I go. One thing I would change about the world and what I plan on changing through my career in medicine is the inability of those in unfortunate circumstances to live the lives they deserve to live and have access to the same opportunities and resources and their more fortunate counterparts. As I started gaining exposure to the field of medicine and working with underserved populations, I began to see the large discrepancies in care these patients experienced, especially in terms of their mental health and the resources available to them. I would like to improve these individuals' quality of life and provide them with the resources to help them see that they have the ability to be successful just as we all do.