2020 Nurse Practitioner Residents

Crystal Barajas, DNP, FNP-C, PHN

Barajas is a family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Doctor in Nursing Practice from the University of San Diego. She has eight years of experience as a registered nurse in family medicine and community health with a focus on serving the underserved, quality improvement and leadership. Her clinical interests include high quality care to Latinx, homeless and previously incarcerated patients in the Sacramento area. She is also interested in correctional health, public health, health policy, preventive health care and patient education. Barajas’ research interests align with her clinical interests. Her first rotation is at Peach Tree Health in North Sacramento.

Alison (Ali) Berkeyheiser, MSN, APRN, AGNP

Berkeyheiser is an adult gerontological nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Neumann University. As a nurse, Berkeyheiser worked for six years on a medical surgical telemetry floor with a focus on gastrointestinal, genitourinary, pulmonary and plastic surgeries. She worked in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic learning Spanish to better meet the needs of Latinos who lack access to care. Berkeyheiser’ s clinical interests include wound care and treating mental health and addiction within the primary care setting. She is also interested in working with the underserved to learn how to meet the unique needs of those living with minimal resources. Her research interests include wellness and minority groups, diabetes management and provider standards of care and quality improvement. Her first rotation is at the Sacramento County Health Center.

Claudia Canturin, MSN, FNP-BC

Canturin is a family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Azusa Pacific University in 2019. Her experience includes work as a volunteer community health educator for the Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals. She also worked four years at Sharp Grossmont hospital as a nurse in acute care and completed a medical and surgical intensive care units nurse externship. Canturin’s clinical interests in primary care include full-spectrum medicine, geriatrics, community medicine, global health and a strong passion to serve vulnerable populations. Her research interests include metabolic syndrome in underserved communities, community wellness programs, as well as hypertension and stroke disparities, particularly in the Latinx and African American communities. Her first rotation is at Western Sierra Medical Clinic in Grass Valley.

Sara Delao, MS, PHN, APRN, FNP-BC, NP-C, WTA-C, VA-BC

Delao is a family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership from theBetty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis in 2019. Previously, she was a registered nurse for nearly years. Her experience includes veteran’s health, medical, surgical and telemetry acute care nursing, wound care, interventional tadiology, pain management, adult infusion nursing, vascular access and as PICC line nurse. Delao’s clinical interests include geriatric medicine, women’s health, infectious disease, LGBTQ health and wound care. Her research interests include adverse childhood events scoring among LGBTQ adults with substance use disorder, advanced practice nurse residency programs and their efficacy to advance full practice authority and the efficacy of complimentary alternative therapies in managing chronic pain. Her first rotation is at the Family and Community Medicine Clinic at UC Davis Health and the Sacramento County Pediatrics Clinic.

Jaspreet Dhillon MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Dhillon is a family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from San Jose State University in 2019. She has five years of experience as a registered nurse working in surgical oncology, neurology, telemetry and advice nursing. Most recently she worked as a family nurse practitioner at an internal medicine clinic in Folsom, California. Dhillon’s clinical interests include working with underserved populations to increase access to high quality health care and holistic adult care across lifespan by promoting preventive care and an active lifestyle. Her research interest is the significance of medication reconciliation at all patient visits to promote patient safety and provide patient-centered care. Dhillon’s first rotation is at Peach Tree Health Linda in Marysville.

Victoria Jackson, MS, MHS, NP-C, PA-C

Jackson is a physician assistant and family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing in 2018. She has experience working in the emergency department before transitioning to cardiology. As a registered nurse, Jackson worked on a telemetry unit. Most recently, as a nurse practitioner, she worked in the UC Davis Health Cardiology Outpatient Services with the electrophysiology team, focusing on arrhythmia and cardiac rhythm device management. Her clinical interests include cardiovascular and geriatric nursing, diabetes and oncologic care in the older adult population. Jackson’s research interests are patient and family engagement in the management of chronic disease and patient and family education, particularly in low health literacy and non-English speaking populations, to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospitalizations. Her first rotation is at the UC Davis Health Midtown Clinic. She also joined the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing as a clinician educator.

Alexandra (Alex) Peck, MSN, MSHCA, FNP-C

Peck is a family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Samuel Merritt University in 2018. As a nurse, she worked at the UCSF Medical Oncology Division as a team lead and as a research coordinator for patients with advanced tumors. She also has nursing experience in emergency, home health, occupational medicine and urgent care services. She worked as a clinic manager and nurse practitioner at an aesthetic practice in Oakland, which served a diverse, transgender population. She served patients in Southeast Asia, as well as on the front lines of the novel coronavirus pandemic in New York City. Peck’s clinical interests include  mental health, particularly relapse-prevention in bipolar disorder; and a strong background in advanced breast cancer treatment and research. Her research interests include the mental health implications of chronic disease management and cancer survivorship. Peck’s first rotation is at CommuniCare Health Centers in the Salud Clinic in West Sacramento.

Jessamyn Phillips, DNP, FNP-C

Phillips is a family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Doctor in Nursing Practice from the University of San Francisco in 2019. She has nine years of nursing experience in cardiac stepdown, cardiothoracic surgery, heart failure management, ventricular assist devices, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and spinal cord injuries. Her clinical interests are health promotion and wellness, disease prevention, nutrition, social determinants of health, health equity, health disparities, access to affordable and reliable contraception, as well as physical medicine and rehabilitation. Phillip’s research interests include increased promotion and access to affordable and reliable contraception and transition to practice residency for nurse practitioners for full practice authority, training and curriculum guidelines for nurse practitioner programs. Her first rotation is at One Community Health in downtown Sacramento.

Mary “Ginny” Spernoga, MPH, MSN, AGPCNP, APRN-BC

Spernoga is an adult gerontological nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Marquette University in 2019. Prior this, she worked as a registered nurse for 13 years. Spernoga has inpatient nursing experience as a staff nurse in Internal Medicine and held many roles in community health settings, including as a triage nurse at an federaly qualified health center, as a community health nurse at clinics mainly serving uninsured patients, as a volunteer nurse at an sexually transmitted infections clinic and a foot clinic. Spernoga’s clinical interests include geriatrics, palliative care, primary care in the home setting, medication assisted treatment for addiction and street medicine. Her research interests are health policy, specifically engaging nurses in policy work and health care access and single payer health systems. Her first rotation is in Internal Medicine at UC Davis Health.

Hannah Spero, MSN, APRN, NP-C

Spero is an adult gerontological nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University in 2019. Spero has extensive experience at VA facilities in San Francisco and Atlanta. She also has experience in long-term care, dementia care, hospice, palliative care, geriatrics and psychiatry. Her experience also includes working with the the homeless, in street medicine and in foot clinics. Most recently, she served as a Fuld Palliative Care Fellow at Emory University and a VA Nursing Academic Partnership Scholar at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Spero’s clinical interests include geriatrics, geropsychiatry and palliative care. She is interested in increasing primary palliative care in geriatric primary care to best support wellness in elderly patients. Her research interests include geriatric quality of life, communication in advanced care planning, care of aging homeless individuals, and support for caregivers of elderly individuals with comorbid medical and psychiatric diagnoses. Her rotation is in the  UC Davis Health Midtown Clinic. She also joined the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing as a clinician educator.

Swe Tun, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Tun is a family nurse practitioner who graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from the Samuel Merritt University in 2019. Prior to becoming a registered nurse, she volunteered as a labor coach and was a clinic scribe. As a registered nurse, she worked in school health and college health while volunteering at a primary care free clinic for about two years. Tun’s clinical interests include providing high quality and culturally appropriate primary care to immigrant and underserved communities. Her research interests are providing high quality care to underserved populations and interdisciplinary care. Tun’s first rotation is in the UC Davis Health Telehealth Clinic and the Sacramento County Pediatrics Clinic.