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| Newsletter - Fall 2004 |
| Family Nurse Practitioner Sarah Parmelee Joins Grace Cottage  “The
whole time I was growing up, when my parents drove by Grace Cottage
on the way from Connecticut to our place in Grafton,” recalled Family
Nurse Practitioner Sarah Parmelee, “I used to think: ‘That’s the kind
of place I want to work at someday’. It might sound trite, but it’s
like a dream come true to be at Grace Cottage…and it’s even better
than I’d hoped!”
A native of West Hartford, Connecticut, and a graduate of Bates College in Maine (with a major in Biology), Sarah started her healthcare career at a Yale School of Medicine laboratory, making synthetic DNA for research purposes. After two years, she switched to clinical lab work in transplant surgery, where she matched blood and tissue samples for organ donors and recipients for four years. Simultaneously, she earned her Masters in Health Science at Quinnipiac College in Connecticut. “Working in the lab was interesting, but I had little or no interaction with patients, and that’s what I missed. After contemplating a further career in healthcare for quite some time, my decision was made when I picked up the brochure on Yale School of Nursing, and I knew it was the right fit. I’ve never looked back—not only did I get my Family Nurse Practitioner’s degree, but I also met my husband there—we got married in Grafton during the Blizzard of 2003 [Dec. 6]. I walked to the church in my wedding dress and snow boots in 27” of snow!” Sarah worked briefly at Grace Cottage during her rotation while at Yale Nursing School, under the tutelage of Danielle Basta. While working on her thesis, Diabetes Care in a Rural Population, she spent additional time at Grace Cottage. Her first job in Vermont was with Dr. Edward Mulhern, where she worked for a year before joining the staff at Grace Cottage this summer. “I’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness and support that I’ve received from everyone at Grace Cottage—I feel as if I’ve been adopted by a great, big family!”, Sarah observed. “The healthcare providers here are not only topof- the-line, but they’re also excellent teachers.” Sarah and her husband, David, who is a nurse at Springfield Hospital, have purchased a home in Chester, where they live with their 11-year-old chocolate lab and their 10-month-old black lab. |
