Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program
We provide new family nurse practitioners with enhanced training in a community health center setting that grows their confidence, fosters their mastery of skills and allows them to gain competence in primary care practice.
Applications for the 2026-27 cohort are open now through April 1, 2026.
“I came across Healthlinc’s Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program when searching for a job out of school and knew that it was a program that would help me grow into a confident provider. The program offers opportunities in specialty areas to ensure we are well-rounded practitioners by the end. It also offers us the opportunity to serve our community as a federally qualified health center in ways that we might not be able to elsewhere. Not only that, but lifelong learning is encouraged through weekly didactic and CME opportunities. You get to go through the program with preceptors and mentors who truly care about your growth as a provider. I would highly recommend it to any novice nurse practitioner who is looking for a supportive learning environment.”
Rylee Cartales
Family Nurse Practitioner Resident
“Throughout my years as a registered nurse, I have seen how early intervention and patient education can significantly improve health outcomes. While caring for patients in the hospital is essential, I wanted to focus more on prevention and helping patients take small steps today to avoid larger health issues tomorrow. I chose HealthLinc’s Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program because it allows me to do just that while caring for individuals and families of all ages and building long-term relationships as their trusted provider. I am driven by a love of learning and want to continue challenging myself in a supportive environment that fosters growth, development and confidence as a clinician. HealthLinc’s exceptional provider mentorship, collaborative team and commitment to serving underserved communities align perfectly with my belief that health care is a fundamental right and that everyone deserves access to high-quality, compassionate care.”
Taylor Freedline
Family Nurse Practitioner Resident
“I heard about HealthLinc’s Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program during my second semester clinical rotation. Hearing more about the program from the program director during my final semester solidified my decision to join. The foundation they help provide during my transition from bedside to a provider is very valuable. Through their mentorship, preceptors, didactic, quality improvement project and collaborative health team, I will build my confidence as a provider.”
Chaya Kolodny
Family Nurse Practitioner Resident
“I chose HealthLinc’s Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program because of its strong commitment to serving all communities and its holistic, patient-centered approach to family medicine. The program’s emphasis on structured mentorship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and hands-on clinical experience supports my transition from registered nurse to nurse practitioner, while strengthening my confidence, clinical reasoning and decision-making skills. Through exposure to diverse patient populations and complex primary care needs, this program helps to further develop my ability to deliver comprehensive, evidence-based care across the lifespan. HealthLinc’s supportive learning environment and mission-driven focus make it an ideal setting for my professional growth and long-term development as a family nurse practitioner.”
Stephanie Krol
Family Nurse Practitioner Resident
HealthLinc launched the Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program to provide intensive training on both the clinical complexity of family practice in the safety net setting and on a high-performance, Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model of primary care. This residency is designed for recently graduated or new nurse practitioners with a commitment to developing career practices in the challenging setting of a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). HealthLinc’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program is accredited through the Consortium for Advanced Practice Providers (CAPP).
- Embrace Innovation to grow and expand the Family Nurse Practitioner residency program as it seeks to be a model for Family Nurse Practitioner primary care practice in the FQHC setting.
- Utilize Collaboration among preceptors, mentors and specialty providers to align practice requirements within each community to ensure the needs of patients are fulfilled.
- Increase Access to quality care by eliminating barriers through expanded training of family nurse practitioners during the residency program.
- Demonstrate Respect in all circumstances by consistently treating all persons with compassion and integrity.
- Achieve Excellence by providing best-in-class, patient care services in all aspects of the Family Nurse Practitioner residency program.
- Humbly provide Servant Care to all communities through activities, including developing quality improvement projects and engaging in leadership practices that impact care for all patients.
The Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program consists of 12 months of full-time employment at HealthLinc and a one-year commitment to employment after completion.
Class Size
Class size varies each year depending on the needs of the two home clinics. This ensures residents receive a comprehensive educational experience with close, one-on-one instruction.
Full Integration into HealthLinc
- Involvement in quality improvement and practice redesign
- Clinical committees and tasks force participation
- Attendance of provider and all staff meetings at home clinic and at yearly HealthLinc conference
- All employment benefits of a full-time provider
Core Elements
- Precepted Continuity Clinics (twice a week)– Develop and manage a panel of new patients.
- Specialty Rotations (once a week for four weeks)– Rotations can include orthopedics, women’s health/prenatal care, adult/child psychiatry, geriatrics, pediatrics, HIV care, hepatitis C care, newborn nursery, dermatology and more. Note: All sessions vary based on preceptors and affiliated agencies availability.
- Mentored Clinics (once a week)– Sessions with a clinician mentor focused on the practice of episodic and acute care.
- Educational Sessions (once session/week)– which include
- Didactics (once a week)– Sessions on high volume/risk/burden conditions frequently seen in FQHCs.
- Quality Project (every other week)– Through a collaboration with our quality and marketing teams, residents better understand the quality process and development of a quality project via PDSA cycle. There are clearly defined learning objectives and goals of the project.
- Leadership (once per month)- In these sessions, residents learn more about communication, time management, burnout, work-life balance and more.
- Social Needs (once per quarter) – Working in collaboration with HealthLinc’s community health workers, behavior health consultants and outreach team, residents complete a service project.
- Additional CME/administrative days for project development and completion.
- Interdisciplinary didactic training with other HealthLinc residency programs, including behavior health, family medicine and pharmacy residencies.
- Continuous training on HealthLinc’s model of high-performance health system: access, continuity, planned care, team-based, prevention-focused, use of data and technology.
- Ongoing multi-input evaluation component using qualitative and quantitative measures.
- Training on the quality improvement model, including clinical microsystems and facilitation, as well as leadership development.
- U.S. Citizen
- Professional diploma (BSN, MSN)
- Recent graduate (less than 18 months) from an accredited Masters or DNP program
- Licensed (IN APRN) and credentialed (FNP-C) or license/credential-eligible as FNP
- Stated commitment to practice as a primary care provider in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or other safety net settings upon completion of the residency
- COVID-19 vaccination or a medical or religious exemption
Applications for the Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program are now open through April 1, 2026
Step one:
- Apply through HealthLinc’s application tracking system.
- Fill out all information required, including pre-application questions, and upload your current resume.
- If qualified, you will be emailed a formal application to complete.
Step two:
- Complete the electronic application. This process includes:
- General background and pre-residency information
- Short essay at 300 – 400 words or more
- Submission of the following:
- CV with 5 years of work experience and education history sections in month and year format
- Copy of driver’s license
- Professional diploma (BSN, MSN)
- 3 signed letters of recommendation
Step three:
- Pre-interview: Online Microsoft Teams sessions will be held to review HealthLinc’s history, the residency program, and the in-person interview process. Several sessions will be offered over a two- to three-week period before a formal interview.
- Optional site visit: Visit to the clinical location(s) at which the residency takes place.
- In-person interview: In-person interviews are held at HealthLinc’s corporate office in Valparaiso, IN. They are facilitated by a combination of HealthLinc and program leadership.
If selected for HealthLinc’s Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, required documents include:
- Copy of Indian RN license
- Copy of Indiana APRN license
- Copies of license(s) from any other states
- Indiana controlled substance license
- Federal DEA certificate
- ANCC/AANP certificate or evidence of eligibility for certification
- COVID-19 vaccination or a medical or religious exemption
For more information about the Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, please contact the residency program specialist at afite@healthlincchc.org or npresidency@healthlincchc.org.
