Although many describe their passion for healthcare work in underserved communities as having been ignited by a spark or a moment, mine was slowly teased out by my parents' insistence on grueling road trips. Every spring and summer break, our family was driving to a vacation in some city 30 hours away. When you live in Colorado, that means driving through one or two fly-over states at a minimum. Like most kids, I never thought much about the areas we drove through; however, in my late teens, I remember questioning what you would doing living out here "in the holler". There isn't single Indian restaurant or frozen yogurt store. I started looking up the towns we drove past on Wikipedia, and reading aloud the featured information for my family. After a few trips, we began recognizing places with a unique annual festival, celebrity sighting, or factoid. While driving through Nebraska to Michigan, we were surprised to see one of these little towns featured in the New York Times*. Like many rural areas, eastern Nebraska was starved for healthcare facilities and workers, and this journalist highlighted the life of an elderly woman whose husband lived in an assisted care facility 50 miles away. The article was grim, pessimistic, and surprisingly inspiring to me. With all the time I'd spent driving through these regions, I could understand both why the facilities had closed and how devastating that is for the residents. Every new closure means another 30 to 50 miles are added to the commute to a a doctor's appointment. Each road trip of mine now carries an abrasive element, a nagging voice that tells me this is a fixable problem. In order to try, I'm finishing programs in nursing and public health. I believe both fields develop the problem solving styles needed to institute small, impactful changes in rural healthcare delivery. My aspiration in nursing specifically is to improve the health outcomes of Colorado's rural population through community health program development. Although I can't fix a nationwide crisis (yet!), my capstone research project is to develop an actionable plan for extending Denver's specialist care to eastern Coloradans. My current research is on how to expand our tele-health set up. This would allow residents to readily access services from specialties such as nephrology and endocrinology. I want to work in an underserved community because of my early exposure to and love of rural America. It's a strange, slow world worth preserving. Without the healthcare attention it needs, it will rot away in a generation or two; 100 mile roundtrip commutes for basic care aren't sustainable. Lastly, I sincerely believe this health disparity can be reduced significantly with enough brain power behind it, so I feel compelled to contribute one more brain. *Healy, J. (2019, March 4). Nursing Homes Are Closing Across Rural America, Scattering Residents. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/us/rural-nursing-homes-closure.html.

Although many describe their passion for healthcare work in underserved communities as having been ignited by a spark or a moment, mine was slowly teased out by my parents' insistence on grueling road trips. Every spring and summer break, our family was driving to a vacation in some city 30 hours away. When you live in Colorado, that means driving through one or two fly-over states at a minimum. Like most kids, I never thought much about the areas we drove through; however, in my late teens, I remember questioning what you would doing living out here "in the holler". There isn't single Indian restaurant or frozen yogurt store. I started looking up the towns we drove past on Wikipedia, and reading aloud the featured information for my family. After a few trips, we began recognizing places with a unique annual festival, celebrity sighting, or factoid. While driving through Nebraska to Michigan, we were surprised to see one of these little towns featured in the New York Times*. Like many rural areas, eastern Nebraska was starved for healthcare facilities and workers, and this journalist highlighted the life of an elderly woman whose husband lived in an assisted care facility 50 miles away. The article was grim, pessimistic, and surprisingly inspiring to me. With all the time I'd spent driving through these regions, I could understand both why the facilities had closed and how devastating that is for the residents. Every new closure means another 30 to 50 miles are added to the commute to a a doctor's appointment. Each road trip of mine now carries an abrasive element, a nagging voice that tells me this is a fixable problem. In order to try, I'm finishing programs in nursing and public health. I believe both fields develop the problem solving styles needed to institute small, impactful changes in rural healthcare delivery. My aspiration in nursing specifically is to improve the health outcomes of Colorado's rural population through community health program development. The United States has an appalling disparity in healthcare access between urban and rural citizens, and Colorado isn't immune to this. Although I can't fix a nationwide crisis (yet!), my capstone research project is to develop an actionable plan for extending Denver's specialist care to eastern Coloradans. In Colorado, rural communities have an older median age than urban centers, so it's critical to provide these preventative services now. For many, the lack of access leads to a delay in seeking care until the condition becomes critical. My current research is on how to expand our tele-health set up. This would allow residents to readily access services from specialties such as nephrology and endocrinology. My long-term goal is to develop incentives for Denver specialists to provide care to a rural zip code for short periods of time. I want to work in an underserved community because of my early exposure to and love of rural America. It's a strange, slow world worth preserving. Without the healthcare attention it needs, it will rot away in a generation or two; 100 mile roundtrip commutes for basic care aren't sustainable. Lastly, I sincerely believe this health disparity can be reduced significantly with enough brain power behind it, so I feel compelled to contribute one more brain. *Healy, J. (2019, March 4). Nursing Homes Are Closing Across Rural America, Scattering Residents. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/us/rural-nursing-homes-closure.html.

I need this scholarship to pay for travel to remote clinical rotations while in nursing school. My aspiration in nursing is to improve the health outcomes of Colorado's rural population through community health program development. The United States has an appalling disparity in healthcare access between urban and rural citizens, and Colorado isn't immune to this. Although I can't fix a nationwide crisis (yet!), my capstone research project is to develop an actionable plan for extending Denver's specialist care to eastern Coloradans. In Colorado, rural communities have an older median age than urban centers, so it's critical to provide these preventative services now. For many, the lack of access leads to a delay in seeking care until the condition becomes critical. My current research is on how to expand our tele-health set up. This would allow residents to readily access services from specialties such as nephrology and endocrinology. My long-term goal is to develop incentives for Denver specialists to provide care to a rural zip code for short periods of time. To best serve my short-term research goal, I want to maximize the clinical rotations I serve at facilities in the region; however, the increased costs associated with this are a hurdle. These clinical sites involve traveling hours away from Denver in order to participate, incurring high fuel costs and motel charges. Because of the distance, I drive out the day before, stay the night, complete an early 12 hour clinical, and drive home the same day. By covering the additional expenses, this scholarship would allow me to participate in rural clinical rotations. If awarded to me, this scholarship will go towards much more than tuition. It will allow me to complete the necessary clinical hours for my BSN at facilities participating in my capstone project. It will support research into health interventions for people in my local underserved community. Most importantly, it will invest in someone passionate about improving healthcare infrastructure. I'd like to cheekily conclude by asserting that I should be awarded this scholarship as investments in public health projects have some of the greatest return*. Thank you for your time. I wish you the best in the selection process and hope to hear from you soon. *Masters R, Anwar E, Collins B, Cookson R, Capewell S. Return on investment of public health interventions: a systematic review. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2017;71(8):827-834. doi:10.1136/jech-2016-208141