Cami Kesler, MSN, FNP serves a population most may think of as well-off, suburban, and regularly-served. But Cami sees her Utah Valley patients as a community facing a different but very real set of challenges that she can address every day with her degree from Frontier Nursing University (FNU).
After focusing on a midwifery path and working in Labor & Delivery for 12 years, Cami enrolled in FNU’s community-based graduate program to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. She works at Utah Valley Pediatrics, serving patients from zero to 19 years of age.
Her focus areas include newborn care, female teenage health, and mental health education, which in her community are relevant and concerning issues. In her role, she believes in creating provider-family relationships when it comes to creating health care management plans.
“All families should feel heard in their concerns, not simply directed in what to do,” said Cami. “They should feel safe in their personal choices, not forced into what is ‘right’.”
The Utah Valley community, though generally engaging in positive lifestyles and boasting a low obesity rate, sees a need in the area of teenage mental health and sex education.
“A majority of my work is aimed at making a difference before a patient’s teenage years. Then I really focus during adolescent years to make encounters individualized to the needs of my patient and family,” said Cami. “My goal with this age population is to also bridge gaps in faith when associated with physical and mental health.”
Cami Kessler, MSN, FNP, Holds Pediatric Patient
Cami built a solid network through her Frontier connections, and FNU’s distance education model was a great benefit to her as a wife and mother of five children. Students and staff she interacted with during her time in the program became somewhat of a lifeline for her as she pursued her degree. During her schooling, she faced challenges, like she feels all students do, but worked daily to balance her roles as a mom, wife, sister, daughter, student, friend, and community member.
“Honestly, this journey would have never been completed was it not for my FNU community and my family and friends that never doubted me and stuck by me through all my high’s and low’s,” said Cami.
Cami plans to continue her journey as a relationship builder, a creator of a safe clinical environment, and a resource for advice and insights that her patients desperately need. She recently started a social media page on Instagram because she saw it as an opportunity to create one more line of communication and education with her families and patients.
“Instilling health care practices and prevention in young patients is becoming a dream fulfilled for me,” said Cami.
Frontier thanks Cami for her dedication to serving and educating families and young patients.
At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, Couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.
at 
With a Family Nurse Practitioner master’s degree from Frontier Nursing University (FNU), Gary Koller, BSN, RN, MSN, FNC-P, has used his position as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Public Health Service to embrace and pursue opportunities to follow FNU’s mission and serve the underserved. Since graduating from FNU in 2012, doors have opened for Gary that he admits he never imagined.
Gary continued to represent as a Frontier alumnus when he began working at Health Resources and Services Administration in 2016. In the wake of the catastrophic Louisiana flood in August 2016, he was deployed to deliver care at the Federal Medical Center on the Louisiana Campus to patients needing complex care. He was also selected to serve in Baton Rouge at the LA Convention Center to give medical support to 1,000 families dislocated by the flood.
Gary was selected as medical support for the general community at the ceremony. Even more recently, in April, Gary was selected as an aide-de-camp for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Tom Price, while visiting Region 4 of Health and Human Services in Atlanta, Ga.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).