by Sarah Mummert, Student Public Relations Writer
Nurse practitioner fellowships are rare. Andrea (VanMeter) Roberts, however, landed an internal medicine nurse practitioner fellowship with Marshall Health Internal Medicine in Huntington, West Virginia, that led to her securing a position in endocrinology at Rivers Health in Gallipolis, Ohio — her hometown.
Once accepted into the competitive 12-month fellowship, Roberts, who earned two degrees from Cedarville University — a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2014 and a family nurse practitioner master’s degree eight years later — developed her clinical experience into professional experience in internal medicine subspecialities, including cardiology, endocrinology, pulmonology, gastroenterology and infectious disease.
During the fellowship, Roberts joined a team of professionals who were working on applications for a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant focused on nurse practitioner programs.
The work of the team paid off as the fellowship program at Marshall Health Internal Medicine received enough grant money to fund four fellows annually for the next four years — a significant increase from the current two-person capacity of the program. The increase in the fellowship program allows Marshall Health to graduate 16 fellows over four years and provide a much-needed influx of health care professionals.
“This is the first HRSA grant of its kind directed at nurse practitioner fellowships and residencies, because nurse practitioner residencies and fellowships are so new,” said Roberts. “It was a great honor to be part of this team that is the catalyst for growth in our profession.”
As a student at Cedarville, professors often noticed her ability to be prepared for various situations. This trait continued through grad school and her fellowship.
“I’ve repeatedly had comments about my preparedness, from both my preceptors in grad school and even the CEO of the entire network I worked in with Marshall Health,” Roberts said. “I was his nurse practitioner a couple of times, and he mentioned that he could tell I was an evidence-based provider, which was a huge compliment.”
Evidence-based practice, meaning providers back up their decisions with current research, is huge in the health care world, and it is a strong focus of Cedarville’s nursing programs as well.
“I was well prepared with my undergraduate degree from Cedarville,” Roberts said. “I knew that if I was going to have diagnostic and prescriptive responsibility, I wanted a graduate program that was going to challenge me and prepare me well, where my professors were going to care about me. So, I chose to go back to Cedarville.”
Of all her opportunities and successes, Roberts is focused on providing quality patient care that brings God all the glory.
“God is the one who has opened all of the doors for me, so it is important to deflect any praise for my successes to him,” said Roberts.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is a Baptist university with undergraduate programs in arts, sciences, and professional programs, and graduate programs. With an enrollment of 5,456 students in 175 areas of study, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio and is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Master of Science in Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner online degree, and high graduation and retention rates. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.