Internal Medicine APCs Recognized for Clinical & Teaching Excellence
Advanced Practice Clinicians (APCs) are a critical component to any health organization, but especially in the Department of Internal Medicine and University of Utah Health. These are the Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants who provide excellent inpatient or outpatient care of the highest quality. Their hard work, dedication, and compassion for their patients is deserving of praise and recognition. To honor our APCs and the incredible work they do, a special lunch and awards ceremony was held for them on Friday, October 18.
While the APC Appreciation Lunch is held annually, this is the first time in the department’s history that excellence awards have been presented to APCs.
“Our APCs deserved more than just praise and a lunch,” remarked Dr. David Bjorkman, Interim Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine when addressing the luncheon attendees.
“They are so much more than just clinicians– they are researchers, professional speakers, collaborators, and educators," says Andrea Schindler, Outpatient APC Director. "We wanted to acknowledge these achievements by presenting awards to those APCs who clearly exemplify expertise in both the clinical and educational realm of their clinical roles.” 
The APC Awards process began with the creating of strict award criteria and a call for nominations from peers, physician colleagues, and division leadership. A formal APC Awards Selection Committee was formed and consisted of several APCs Leads from different divisions in addition to a physician leader, all of whom voluntarily served on this committee. A total of four awards were designated with two distinct awards categories: the APC Clinical Excellence Award and the APC Teaching Excellence Award.
The APC Clinical Excellence Award was designed to recognize an APC who promotes teamwork, and demonstrates broad depth of clinical knowledge and mastery of application to patient care. The APC Teaching Excellence Award was designed to recognize APCs who dedicate themselves as a mentor for their colleagues, and who strive to educate their patients as well. Four total awards would be granted to four deserving APCs – three for Clinical Excellence, and one for Teaching Excellence.
After soliciting nominations from providers, APC colleagues, supervisors and division administrators, the APC Awards Selection Committee met again to discuss the winners for each award based on the determined criteria.
David Kendrick, Inpatient APC Director, was amazed at the quality and quantity of the nominations received. “There were so many excellent nominations, and all were so close in the final scores. It was a challenge to narrow it down,” he says. “This is a testament to the talents of our entire APC team."
The winners of the APC Clinical Excellence Award is as follows:
Kristin Akers, ACNP-BC, ACHPN
Kristin is a Nurse Practitioner with the Supportive & Palliative Care Program. She started her career at the University of Utah with the Huntsman ICU team, and transitioned to the Palliative team in 2015.
She is a team player, showing great enthusiasm for her work and exceptional medical knowledge. She has several quality improvement projects under her belt, including working towards a hospital ventilator withdrawal policy, editing the current comfort care and GIP order sets to reflect evolving evidence, and the MICU trigger project. Kristin’s passion for education extends outside her clinical duties, as she is also a facilitator for Utah Advanced Communication Training (UACT), VitalTalk, and the Utah Certificate for Palliative Education (UCOPE).
Julia Batten, MPH, MSN, ANP-BC
Julia is a Nurse Practitioner in the Division of Oncology with expertise in genitourinary malignancies. She is active in her field beyond her clinical duties, serving as a member of the Kidney Cancer Association Nurse Advisory Board, sub-investigator and co-PI on several industry sponsored protocols, and as an Institutional Review Board (IRB) member for the University of Utah.
Julia’s compassion, intelligence, and work ethic made her strong candidate for this award. The Genitourinary Clinic where she practices is one of the highest volume clinics and has the highest clinical trial accrual at Huntsman Cancer Institute. She values knowledge and gladly precepts students, teaches residents and fellows and gives professional presentations. She has co-authored over 17 publications in her career as an APC.
Mary Steinbach, DNP, FNP-BC
Mary is a Nurse Practitioner in the Division of Hematology and works specifically on the Multiple Myeloma team. She recently accepted the position as the APC Lead for the Bone Marrow Transplant clinic and currently serves as a Board Member on the International Myeloma Foundation.
Mary was described as the “glue” that holds together the Multiple Myeloma Team, and she consistently receives high patient satisfaction scores and reviews. She continually sets a phenomenal example by remaining well-read on published literature, she contributes to scholarly work through publishing and giving presentations on local, national, and international levels. Her welcoming personality and steady confidence allow for a productive work environment, contributing to a 40% increase in patient-volume over the last two years.
The winner of the APC Teaching Excellence Award is as follows:
Michelle Litchman, PhD, FNP-BC
Dr. Litchman is a Nurse Practitioner in the Division of Endocrinology, an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing, and an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Litchman developed and is the Medical Director of the Diabetes One-Day Education and Care Program, a one-time, 8-hour comprehensive program delivered by multidisciplinary faculty, including: Nurse Practitioners, diabetes educators, pharmacists, social workers, chefs, exercise specialists, and physicians. This program has proven to be effective in reducing A1C by 0.53%, which is sustained over 6 months.
Her passion for education is seen in the clinical setting, but also with students. She serves as co-lead instructor for over fifty students in a DNP Leadership and Advocacy course, developed an Advanced Pharmacy course for Master’s level nursing students, and mentors over 20 graduate students in the health sciences.
Please join the Department of Internal Medicine in congratulating this inaugural group of talented APC awardees.