I am a nurse practitioner in the urologic surgery division here at Vanderbilt. I lived in St. Louis, MO prior to moving to Nashville in mid-2016. I received my nurse practitioner degree from Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes Jewish-College in St. Louis. My urology rotation during training was by far my area of greatest interest. Following graduation, I completed a 12-month urology fellowship for advanced practice providers at Washington University in St. Louis. This was a unique experience which allowed me to work closely with urologists, nurse practitioners, and residents in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. The fellowship provided me with the skills and confidence needed to fully function as a new advanced practice provider in urology. I continued to practice in urology at Washington University for three years following my fellowship and was allowed to broaden my scope of practice to include diagnostic office cystoscopy and surgical first assist.
My role in urology at Vanderbilt is mainly focused on caring for patients with men’s health issues including voiding dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, and urologic reconstruction. Being able to subspecialize has allowed me to gain more expertise in my area of practice. I work closely with one of our reconstructive surgeons, Dr. Doug Milam. Many of our patients have previously been treated for pelvic level diseases such as colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, or experienced some type of pelvic level trauma. Side effects from their therapy or trauma can leave them with severe urinary incontinence, urethral stricture disease, erectile dysfunction, or fistula formation. Recovery for these patients is often a journey, requiring extensive counseling regarding treatment options and often surgical intervention. Managing expectations is one of the more challenging aspects of treating these patients as they may never fully regain the function they had prior to their initial treatment or trauma. Fortunately, I work with a team of talented surgeons and advanced practice providers which allows us to often restore many of these patient’s quality of life.
A particular passion of mine is education. Since being at Vanderbilt I have been given the great opportunity of helping lead the design of a urologic nurse practitioner fellowship. This will be a 12-month program open to any certified nurse practitioner interested in urology. The fellow will have close mentorship and training with physicians and advanced practice providers across all urologic subspecialties. Training will mainly be focused on outpatient care, but adequate exposure to inpatient and surgical based care will also be provided. The program is set to begin July 2018, and applications will open in December 2017.
I have a beautiful wife and two young boys. Aside from work, my family – particularly our one and three-year-olds - keeps life interesting and fun. When I have the time I enjoy outdoor activities, exercise, spending time with friends, and going to the movies.
