Features

The Doctor is In

By: Hollis Conners ~Features Editor~

Xavier Newswire: Can you explain the different roles and responsibilities you have as nurse practitioners and a MD?

Miller
This is Miller’s fourth year working as a full-time staff physician of internal medicine at McGrath Health and Wellness Center (MHWC). She completed undergraduate studies at Harvard University, attended medical school at the University of Massachusetts, had an internship at St. Elizabeth’s in Boston and did her residency in Internal Medicine was at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City.

1. Kim L. Miller, MD: I decided to (attend) medical school because I wanted more breadth of what I could do. I wanted to be able to make changes and to be flexible in my career to a maximum degree. As a physician, I could go into any specialty. Both entail lifelong learning, and that’s what is so attractive about them as careers. There is no individual who knows everything.

2. Marcelle Bobst, MSN, ANP-C: I think it comes down to level of education and responsibility. While CNPs practice with a great deal of autonomy, I knew I always wanted a collaborating physician to bounce ideas off of and to talk to about complicated patients and difficult problems.

3. Linda Kibot, FNP-C: The training is very different. I always tell students when you go to med school, you get an indepth and rigorous training on science like microbiology, chemistry and biochemistry. When you put it all together you can make an excellent diagnosis. As a nurse practitioner, one can go to nursing school and learn therapeutics of caring for people.

XN: What made you choose these specific career paths?

Brobst
Bobst began working as a nurse practitioner at MHWC in February 2014. She has been in practice as a CNP (or certified nurse practitioner) since 2007. She earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry and participated in the accelerated program at University of Cincinnati to become a nurse practitioner in both women’s health and adult health.

1. Miller: My father was a psychiatrist, and I read an article in The New Yorker around my freshman year of college by a family practitioner who talked about knowing families and taking care of people in a small town over time. I really enjoyed primary care because of the relationships you develop over time with people.

2. Bobst: I always was drawn to health and physical wellness. Even though I started in chemistry, my true love was always health. It’s amazing to be in a profession where you can make people feel better by the time they leave the office, sometimes with medication but oftentimes through education.​

3. Kibot: I knew growing up I wanted to go into the medical field. I worked as a nurse for a year. I knew I wanted to be more independent, and I went back to school. I then went into family practice. I wanted to make a difference (in patients) early on and be able to talk to patients and teach them prevention so that they wouldn’t get sick and stuck in a hospital. In (primary care) you get the chance to educate patients on things that could make a huge difference and impacts on their lives long term.

XN: What are some of the challenges you face and how do you overcome them?

1. Miller: I think the greatest challenge we all share is balancing family with career. It is one of those lifelong works in progress where there is no right answer to. There are also the ongoing challenges of education of navigating health care as a provider and figuring out what is going on
in the health care of the future.

2. Bobst: One of the challenges is time constraints, health care cost being so great and everyone trying to curb the rising health care costs. Even though we don’t bill each patient, there is still a big drive to get everyone in and seen which can make busy days for us. The nurses make it possible to get as much done as we do.

3. Kibot: Keeping up with the new research and the changes in guidelines. The working relationships, the environment, the nurses and all the support staff here (makes it feel) almost more therapeutic to be here (than anywhere else).

XN: Do you have any advice for students intending to pursue a career in the medical field?

Kibot
Kibot has been working two days a week at MHWC as a nurse practitioner since fall 2013. Her bachelor of science degree in nursing came from the University of North Dakota, and she graduated in December 2011 with her doctorate in nursing from North Dakota State University. She also teaches at the Xavier School of Nursing.

1. Miller: If it’s your passion, pursue it. It’s a career where you can really help people and have lots of opportunities to do amazing things in the world. Don’t do it if you think it’ll be an easy way to get a good job and salary. Do it because you can’t imagine doing anything else.

2. Bobst: Don’t underestimate shadowing (professionals in the field). There are so many different specialties one can go into, and it’s a good idea to know what you are getting into before you start.

XN: Do you have anything else you want to students to know?

1. Kibot: (McGrath) is probably the best resource Xavier has on campus. (The relationships allow students to) come to get diagnosed and to have basic problems treated, but most importantly we can talk about things they would not be able to talk about if they just went to an urgent care down the street that only takes care of their cold then gets them out. We hope more students get to hear the kinds of services we provide and the relationships we can build with them.