CDH Emergency Department Technician Kelsey Conti Receives $10K Nursing Scholarship

Emergency Department Technician Kelsey Conti has been chosen as the 2024 recipient of the Cooley Dickinson/UMass Amherst Nursing School educational scholarship. Kelsey will receive $10,000 toward her studies in the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, which she will begin in September at the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at UMass.

“I guess you could say I’ve had a circuitous route to getting where I am today,” noted Conti, a Northampton resident.

After graduating from Smith College in 2017 with a double major in Education & Child Studies and Psychology, Conti began working per diem in the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Patient Registration department. From there, she transitioned to a behavioral health technician role where in the past five years she has taken on multiple responsibilities, including training new staff members.

According to one of her nominators, “Kelsey has an innate desire to continuously learn and improve; she wants to be part of running the ED and is an incredible co-worker and caregiver.” Despite her non-linear career path, Conti has stayed true to her mission: working with people to help facilitate positive change for each patient.

“When I graduated from college, the focus of my education was based on the educational inequalities due to socioeconomic status and race,” she said. “My work experience in the ED has shown me that these same inequalities exist in health care.”

For Conti, every patient interaction she has is centered around providing immense care and compassion. At the forefront of her mind, with everyone she meets, is that everyone has different lived experiences that inform and impact their lives.

Says Conti of receiving the scholarship, “I am grateful to have developed a wealth of experience in a clinical setting in the Emergency Department and am so excited to begin my studies this fall.” Conti will continue to work in the Emergency Department as she pursues her degree.

Cooley Dickinson Hospital has established an educational scholarship program with the Elaine Mariab College of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts School Amherst. This continuing education scholarship supports the educational advancement of eligible Cooley Dickinson staff who are pursing either a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or a doctorate in Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

For more information about the scholarship, contact Director of Nursing and Professional Practice Education Lauren Grybko, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, at lgrybko@mgb.org.