Michele Cellai NP, DNP
Seavey Clinic since 2018.
Practicing great health habits and modeling them for patients
“Efforts in primary care need to be focused on prevention, and the Seavey Clinic has a much more collaborative effort to improving someone’s health, not just controlling it.”
The Seavey Clinic is an ideal environment for Michele Cellai because, as a nurse practitioner, she has the skills to assess and diagnose illness, create treatment plans, and educate patients on how to prevent disease and manage their health.
She also commands authority because she follows the diet, exercise, and healthy habits that her advice is based on. Plant-based diet—check (she is vegetarian). Consistent physical activity—check (she is an endurance athlete who competes in Ironman races). Supportive relationships—check (a pet owner, she bonded with the spouse of a patient who sent her a parrot keychain that Michele treasures).
“I truly believe that you can manage your health—maybe not all of it—by having a healthy lifestyle,” she says. “I know what I am talking about because I know the health benefits personally.”
Some people adopt better habits because of a health scare. Maybe they’ve had an epiphany, a light bulb moment. Michele experienced that early in her training, not about her own health but about her calling to help others. As a University of Maryland pre-med student, she was unhappy and realized she lacked the competitive drive required of physicians. “I’m a collaborative person,” she says, recalling how she skimmed the course catalog for a new major.
“I turned the page and it was like a golden light shone down on pre-nursing,” she says. “In that immediate moment, I knew that I was meant to be a nurse. As a teenager, I had been to see nurse practitioners and thought they were cool. They were kind and understanding and made me feel very comfortable in a way that I did not expect an adult to be. After that moment, I never looked back. There is no higher calling than nursing, because it’s about caring and well-being more than about fixing problems. There is a high level of altruism.”
Before joining the Seavey Clinic in 2018, Michele was a bedside nurse, a trauma ICU nurse, and a nurse practitioner working in employee health. She earned her doctor of nursing practice (DNP).
Besides seeing patients, Michele plays a critical role in integrating clinical services for each patient so that their needs are addressed efficiently and comprehensively, without undue wait times. Her fitness level gives her energy necessary for a busy schedule in which she also teaches nurse practitioner students. “Teaching students while seeing a patient means that they both get to hear the ‘why’ of what we do here,” says Michele, who also conducts research. She’s a key player in the blood pressure clinic, which is an interprofessional education research initiative.
“I see a much better integration in this clinic, because most of the providers have been here for years and give their patients that personal touch,” she says. “I think it’s very important the way that we are using care coordination to tackle the major issues of healthcare, like diabetes and high blood pressure. The clinic also is very successful because we really like each other and get along really well.”