Kara Birch, RN, DNP, NP
Associate Professor
Community Health Systems
School of Nursing

As an educator she aims to help develop the next generation of clinicians through integrated clinical, didactic, individual and interprofessional educational experiences that leverage key components from technology to self-reflection. Contributions at varying levels include teaching in both masters and doctoral programs and conducting national level curriculum development through the VA Nurse Practitioner Residency taskforce. In the nurse therapist role she journeys alongside and holds hope for others. She has received training in narrative based trauma therapy, strategic family therapy, DBT, CBT, PST and ACT. She has primarily focused on practice-based research in integrated care from inpatient medicine consultation to mental health in primary care, currently serving as Co-Project Director for a multi-year HRSA Nursing Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention grant focusing on enhancing mental health integration in a local FQHC. With a passion for patient centered system improvement and experience in Population Health she aims to focus on better management of the varied co-morbid physical and mental health concerns of patients while solving real-world concerns for teams such as reducing cost and improving outcomes.