Biography
Rosario Medina, PhD, FNP-BC, ACNP, CNS, FAANP, FAAN brings to UNM more than 43 years of active nursing experience and decades of academic leadership. Her leadership history has been focused on building practice capacity that increases access to underserved populations, building academic programs to prepare a highly diverse workforce, and providing evidence-based clinical environments for student experience and research.
Prior to joining the UNM College of Nursing, she was the Associate Dean of Clinical and Community Affairs at the University of Colorado- Anschutz College of Nursing in Aurora, Colorado, where she had the executive oversight of more than 140 faculty and staff in multiple faculty-managed clinical enterprises serving the Denver metro and rural Colorado. They included five midwifery practices, a campus community primary clinic, three integrative Federally Funded Health Centers, and two pediatric primary care clinics all focused on caring for underserved populations.
Medina has served as an educational leader in a variety of roles at the University of Colorado. They include Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the Graduate Programs, Assistant Dean for Graduate Nursing where she was responsible for 15 master's programs, Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Affairs, and as the Director of the Doctor of Nursing Program. Medina also promoted pathway programs into nursing and served as a mentor to aspiring nurses.
Medina's 25 years as a Family Nurse Practitioner and researcher has helped her become an expert in understanding underserved populations and knowledgeable in community-based research aimed at changing practice to positively influence health care outcomes in underrepresented populations. Her research focuses on the health beliefs, values and needs of the underserved Hispanic population, specifically in screening and prevention of chronic diseases, medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorders in Colorado's underserved frontier and rural counties, and the impact of shifting to tele-health during COVID.
Much of Medina's clinical, research, teaching, and publication activities have focused on improving health and health equity outcomes and addressing social determinants of health for Hispanic women and other underserved populations, including rural communities. She was recently honored as a leader for her efforts to diversify the nursing workforce by developing curriculum aimed at caring for underrepresented populations and developing policies that diversify the academic and practice nursing workforce.
Education
PhD, Barry University, 2007 (Nursing)
PMC, Barry University, 2006 (Acute Nurse Practitioner)
PMC, Florida Atlantic University, 1998 (Family Nurse Practitioner)
MSN, College of New Rochelle, 1990 (Clinical Nurse Specialist - Adult Nursing)
BSN, Pace University, 1985 (Nursing)
AAS, Pace University, 1983 (Nursing)
Certifications
FNP-BC: Family Nurse Practitioner Board Certified
ACNP: Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
CNS: Clinical Nurse Specialist
RN: Registered Nurse
Achievements & Awards
FAAN: Fellow of the American Academy of Nurses
FAANP:Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Gender
Female
Languages
- Spanish