“I wanted to be a PA because I had a really great experience as a patient with a physician assistant and I saw that their perspective on a holistic health as well as more personalized care and individual to that patient was more effective in my health outcomes moving forward.” 

Danielle Nahas, PA, shares how a personal experience inspired her journey in mental health care. Watch her full story and learn more about her experience as a scholar.

“In my area, it's very rural and unfortunately, we have limited healthcare providers. We are very limited as far as our psychiatric providers. And so for me, that was one of the reasons that I decided to go back to school to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner.” 

Ivy Bagley, DNP, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, IBCLC, CDP, NHDP-BC, PMH-BC, saw a critical need in her community and took action. Hear how her passion for bridging the gap in mental health care led her to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Watch her full story and learn more about her experience as a scholar.

“Elevate is community and sharing a common goal towards patient centered care, I would say because essentially that's what we're all here doing, right? We're trying to figure out the best way that we can care for our patients. What is going to be the best possible treatment method for them? How can we best care for their mental health? How can we work together as providers, whether you're a PA or an NP or a physician or any healthcare provider in any capacity within the healthcare field, how can we all work together to make sure that the patient is receiving the best possible care that they possibly can, right?” 

Nour Safa, PA-C, shares how Elevate brings healthcare providers together to collaborate, learn, and find the best ways to support their patients' mental health. Watch her full story and hear more about her experience as a scholar.

“I like complex med management. I love the continuity of care and following patients for a long time and really getting to know their families. And that's important to me. So, the challenge is finding a way to address the need while practicing the kind of medicine that, you know, kind of fills my cup...I would encourage anybody who's even a little bit psych adjacent to consider something like this because the more perspectives you can see, the more opinions and approaches to managing these multifaceted conditions, I think is going to be the best way to advocate for our patients.” 

Shawna McCafferty, MD, shares how she finds fulfillment in complex med management and patient advocacy—and why she encourages all providers, even those just psych-adjacent, to expand their perspectives. Watch her full story and learn more about her experience as a scholar.

“Before I even got here, I began connecting with some of the other scholarship recipients; we're from all walks of life. Some of us are doctors, some of us are PAs, some of us are nurses and nurse practitioners. I think Elevate is one of the conferences where you're able to connect and mingle with people across different disciplines. And I think that's another thing that makes it unique, and I love that so much because all of us play a very vital role in our patients receiving the best care and better outcomes.” 

Sandy Juste, MD, MS, Psychiatry Resident Physician, shares how Elevate creates a unique space for connection, collaboration, and learning across disciplines—all with the shared goal of improving patient outcomes. Watch her full story and hear more about her experience as a scholar.

“Elevate is fun and fascinating. It really touches on everything. It's interactive, you have experiences to network, to grow, to develop, to really enhance your professional identity and your personal identity and come together and collaborate, which is really important. Building relationships and collaborating and taking everything that has been deposited to you from here and being able to disseminate it out, whenever you return to where you came from. So providing that education and just cycling that so that you essentially mentor others with all the knowledge and stuff that you get from here.” 

Stephanie Kress, PMHNP-BC, LCSW, RYT, shares how Elevate is more than a conference—it's an interactive experience that helps you build connections, enhance your identity, and bring valuable knowledge back to your community. Watch her full story and learn more about her experience as a scholar.