Providence Alaska Medical Center (PAMC) Clinical Academy

Since 2016, Providence Alaska Medical Center (PAMC) has offered Clinical Academy programs to help nurses learn and succeed in their new roles.

The program supports Nurse Residents, who are new graduate nurses with less than one year of experience, and Nurse Fellows, who are experienced nurses moving into a new nursing specialty.

Residents and Fellows take special classes designed for their nursing specialty. These programs help nurses build clinical knowledge, gain confidence, and grow professionally. PAMC offers programs in Medical-Surgical, Telemetry, Critical Care, Emergency, Pediatrics, Neonatal Intensive Care, Perinatal, Oncology, Orthopedics, and Perioperative Nursing.

Nurses learn through classroom lessons, case studies, simulation activities, online learning, and guided group discussions. These learning experiences are led by Nursing Professional Development (NPD) Practitioners and other experts from across the organization.

Nurse Residents complete the Core Fundamentals program during their first year of practice. They learn about quality, safety, communication, self-care, healthcare technology, and using research to improve patient care. The program ends with a research project presentation and a graduation ceremony. This helps new nurses develop important professional skills for long-term success.

Nurse Fellows complete the Clinical Academy Fellow Essentials (CAFÉ) program. CAFÉ supports the development of new-to-specialty nurses through activities and virtual classrooms.

Clinical Academy uses preceptors who are nurses that have received extra training to support and evaluate the Residents and Fellows on their nursing journey.