Nursing Student Named to the Minority Fellowship Program
The National Advisory Committee of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has named Jasmine Thomas to the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP). The MFP aims to reduce health disparities and improve behavioral health care outcomes for underserved populations.
Thomas, a second-year graduate student in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) specialty track of the BSN-DNP program at Georgia Southern University, will receive a stipend in the amount of $15,000, which she plans to use toward living expenses as she works towards her master’s degree.
“This money will impact me by alleviating the strain of my school/work life balance,” stated the Atlanta, Georgia, native. “It will provide me the opportunity to free up time to focus more on my studies.”
Additionally, Thomas is participating in the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) program. The BHWET program aims to develop and expand the behavioral health workforce, and will increase the number of providers prepared to deliver team-based psychiatric/mental health services to rural and medically underserved populations in South Georgia.
To be eligible for the fellowship, individuals had to be enrolled full-time in an accredited psychiatric mental health nursing program with a focus on mental health and/or substance use disorders, prevention or treatment and be an active member of the American Nurses Association (ANA). Additionally, during the fellowship Thomas will be required to attend a series of mandatory education activities and is encouraged to participate in and contribute to ethnic minority organizations of her choice.
After graduation, Thomas plans to obtain employment as a PMHNP to gain experience before returning to school to earn her doctoral degree.
Posted in Awards and Recognition, General Announcements, SON, SON Students