My desire to do CHC’s residency program was rooted in my experience of advocating on behalf of those who have been marginalized from access to quality health care.  As an NP graduate, I could practice in community health safely.  But after residency, I was able to build on my academic education to become a family nurse practitioner who can respond effectively to the vulnerability and complexity of patients in community health.   With the guidance of committed preceptors, I was able to identify my weaknesses, sharpen my diagnostic skills and swiftly prioritize management options for medically complex patients.  My biggest lessons were how to make connections between treatment guidelines or new evidence and the patient before me.   In large part due to the mentorship of CHC’s residency, I continue to enjoy and develop a dynamic primary care practice in community health based on evolving clinical needs ­­­—opioid dependency, prenatal care, hepatitis C —and evidence.   Five years on and I still use and pass along to students the resources I gathered in residency!