Nurse Residency Program Profile – Army Veteran Kristi Koplin

Staff in all areas of health care train at VA locations across the country, and VAPIHCS has training programs for many different medical specialties. The newest is the Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, with the first cohort going through their training now. One resident in the program -Army Veteran Kristi Koplin- shared her story. 

“When my dad was stationed in San Francisco we used to take Space A from Travis Air Force Base to Hawaii and stay at Bellows Air Force Base,” Koplin said. “I remember landing at Hickam and seeing the big pink building on the hill and I thought I’d like to work here someday.” 

Koplin served eight years in the U.S. Army, and she is still in the Army Reserves. Her father also served in the Army, and although she says he never pushed her to join, he was proud of her for serving. Koplin saw the care her father got through VA, and that made her want to work for VA herself, because she saw how much they helped Veterans. 

“Being inside the VA now is cool because I get to see all the different programs and learn about it from a provider perspective,” Koplin said. “There are so many great programs and resources, and I’m getting to learn how they all fit together and interact with each other, which has been really interesting.” 

Koplin was in college when she decided to go into nursing. She says she was always interested in everything and loved learning, and nursing seemed like the perfect field because there are so many different career paths for nurses. In fact, she said that she thinks she may go into primary care after her residency, because she likes the idea of each patient having a different concern so that her caseload will have a variety of exciting challenges. 

“The rotations in the residency program were really beneficial for me personally,” Koplin said. “When I did my women’s health rotation, I recognized myself in a lot of the women that I met. The way they talked about gear that didn’t fit and health problems they had; it made me realize a lot about myself. Podiatry was interesting too, though. I loved to learn how complex feet are and how dramatic an improvement a Veteran can experience from something like corrective shoes.”

Being a ‘military brat,’ Koplin moved often as a child. She enjoyed it because it gave her the chance to go many different places. In the Army, she ended up being recruited for the Bobsled team, and so she traveled all over the world with them. Unlike some people who dislike change, Koplin found it invigorating. 

“It’s hard to pick a favorite place because everywhere is interesting,” Koplin said. “I guess if I had to pick, I’d say Switzerland was my favorite. It was so different from the US or from anywhere I’d ever been. I love mountains as well, and they have really dramatic scenery there.” 

Koplin was assigned to some difficult posts towards the end of her enlistment. Yuma, Arizona was particularly hard for her. She says she’s grateful to be in Hawaii now, and to be able to enjoy the ocean. And she’s finally working at that big pink building on the hill that made such an impression on her as a child.