"Good health thrives on connections with others. Being instrumental in a patient’s healing process gives meaning to my own life."
As the first-generation son of immigrant parents, Gregory Marcellin and his parents learned English together. With their emphasis on strong family and church connections, the Haitian community of Boston laid the foundation for a lifelong desire to serve. Motherless at age eighteen, over the years Marcellin has benefited from the guidance of many female mentors who endorsed his dreams with their strength, advice and support.
Long-time family friend and clinical nurse specialist Ellen Robinson at Mass General Hospital encouraged Gregory to explore a career in healthcare. She facilitated his first position in a clinical setting as an Operating Room Nursing Assistant where the high level of excellence and teamwork fired his imagination and inspired him to pursue a path in nursing.
Having earned a BS in Health Sciences from Boston University, Marcellin enrolled in the Master of Science Nurse Practitioner program at Simmons University where he completed a degree in 2015. The federal funded Nurse Corps Scholarship Program provided opportunities to treat underserved populations in both rural and urban settings, opening his eyes to “the complexity of patient needs within a diverse and multilingual environment.”
After working several years as a family nurse practitioner (FNP) in community health centers, Gregory shifted to urgent care, serving with Carewell in the greater Boston area before moving into his current role as lead practitioner with Convenient MD in New Hampshire. Marcellin also serves as a psychiatric nurse practitioner with Safe Harbor Psychiatry in Newbury, Massachusetts using pharmaceutical therapy as a tool to help patients support their day-to-day functioning while they develop long-term coping mechanisms through counseling.
The pandemic ushered in long lines of people needing COVID testing and treatment and, as the crisis deepened, Marcellin witnessed a sharp increase in cases linked to anxiety, depression and a chronic sense of fatigue. Some patients also struggled with PTSD following a life-threatening case of COVID or grief over the loss of loved ones amid numbing social isolation.
These pandemic-related scenarios strengthened Marcellin’s resolve as a nurse practitioner and the rapid exacerbation of mental health issues spurred him to expand his nursing background with additional training. Impressed by the range of education opportunities offered by the UNH Nursing Department, he enrolled in the online post graduate Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, completing his studies in 2022. Marcellin talks about his academic experience and his career plans with a warm smile.
"I love the flexibility of online learning because I could do my course work at home. The scheduled syllabus helped me organize a study calendar and eliminating a campus commute allowed ample time to care for my family and focus on my job. The strong UNH faculty support was a driving force that kept me moving forward to achieve my goal."
Despite his extensive education and successful career, Gregory faces daily the complex nuances of being a minority male nurse. To help navigate these challenges, Marcellin regularly touches base with his “mentoring moms” for practical advice on how to advocate for himself and to become a role model for others in the field.
"My dream is to increase awareness, trust and access to mental health services for minority communities. My goal is to support this dream by opening a private practice in my area. And my purpose is to be a healer who helps people evolve their lives to have greater meaning."
Gregory’s “many moms” are wreathed in smiles.
Written by Gwendolyn Goguelet
