Margaret MacDonald is a Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). She completed her Post-Master’s PMHNP Certificate Program at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, as well as her MSN and Accelerated BSN. Ms. MacDonald also completed a Health Care Management and Leadership Executive Education program through UCLA. Margaret developed a passion for mental health while working with underserved urban peoples during school and subsequently during her first job as an Adult and Geriatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner in a remote rural area in California’s North State with very limited access to psychiatric providers. Prior to becoming an NP, Margaret was a high-tech management consulting executive for companies like Accenture, PWC, and Oracle Consulting. She lived and worked in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Washington DC. Her initial undergraduate studies were at Yale and San Diego State. When her mother went into terminal decline, Margaret was inspired by the Nurse Practitioners that provided care and remembered her childhood dream of becoming a doctor. That led Margaret to make the career change to Nurse Practitioner. Margaret draws on her background and life experience to bring a compassionate, holistic, and practical approach to caring for her patients. An Army brat, she has lived in multiple states and countries, but considers California as her childhood home. Margaret enjoys hanging out with her two dogs, cooking, reading, watching classic movies, and outdoor activities like hiking and backpacking.