From the moment Kelsey Norman visited the University of Rhode Island, she felt it was an instant fit. She made the most of her experience at what she now calls her second home—forging deep friendships on the field hockey team and helping dozens of students at the University’s Academic Enhancement Center.

As president of URI’s club field hockey team, Kelsey worked closely with other teams from around the country and networked with those attending the National Field Hockey League annual meeting. She also discovered a love of teaching by tutoring students in biology and chemistry, and she eventually became a coach for academic skills and success in the Office of New Student Programs.

But it was her experience conducting research at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center that may have made the most lasting impression. As part of her final year of the six-year doctor of pharmacy program, Kelsey conducted research on heart failure and presented posters on her work at the veterans’ hospital and at a meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists in New Orleans.

“Our rotation was centered in a heart failure ambulatory care clinic,” Kelsey said. “We studied several newly implemented interventions to determine if they helped reduce hospitalizations in a cohort of patients with heart failure.”

The experience working with veterans—and with her mentor, Clinical Professor Tracey Taveira—helped Kelsey decide to continue this work with a residency at a V.A. health care facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan.