Personal statement: what personal, professional, educational and clinical experiences have led you to choose nursing as a profession, and the role of a mental health nurse practitioner as a specialty practice? What are your aspirations for a Residency program? Please comment upon your vision and planning for your short and long term career development. Maximum 2 pages.

Personal history: I have been a nurse since 2013. My first job was adult day care center, then nursing home and rehab. I enjoyed working with elderly, I have learnt to address not only their physical concerns but also to be emotionally supportive. I have enjoyed listening to their life stories, I was emotionally supportive when patients were telling me about any problems with family members, or how they miss their spouses. At that point, I realize that mental health is equally important to physical health and I became interested in psychiatry. I was lucky enough to get a job at McLean hospital as psychiatric nurse on adolescent unit. This was completely different experience in terms of working with different age group and addressing emotional side of the issue along with physical. This experience strengthens my believe that physical and mental health are strongly connected. I also learnt how early childhood experiences shape the rest of our lives. I became interested in trauma because one of my family members experienced trauma when she was a child and this traumatic event interfering with her life. Currently I am in my last year of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program at Northeastern University. I am doing my internship with Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who`s interested in trauma, attachment theory. I have opportunity to learn about Mentalization, based theory, Transference focused psychotherapy, Intensive short-term psychodynamic therapy. I believe a residency program will help me to become a successful Nurse Practitioner because it offers a lot of support. I will get an opportunity to work with mentors and experienced psychiatrists and learn a lot from them. I also will get an opportunity to get experience various fields of psychiatry such as: inpatient psychiatry, outpatient psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, psychiatric emergency, neurology, geropsychiatry. I believe having a mentor and getting as much training and supervision as possible will make a successful nurse practitioner. Short term goals: work in inpatient setting or community mental health centers for 3-5 years. Long term goal: open my own practice and work as independent psychiatric nurse practitioner, practice med management and provide therapy. Clinical interests: trauma, borderline personality disorder. I would like to work with all age groups and families.