Celebrating APP Week: Angela Duncan

This APP Week, we spoke with Angela Dun­can, APRN, FNP-BC, from our QMG Can­cer Insti­tute. Angela meets patients where they are, offer­ing guid­ance and under­stand­ing dur­ing life’s hard­est moments. Her ener­gy and enthu­si­asm — whether in Cross­Fit or sky­div­ing — reflect the care and encour­age­ment she brings to every patient.

Q: What first sparked your inter­est in health­care, and what inspired you to become an Advanced Prac­tice Provider?
A: My inspi­ra­tion for car­ing, I guess, start­ed with my grand­par­ents. They were farm­ers, rais­ing live­stock and crops. I learned to care for liv­ing things in a nur­tur­ing man­ner. I worked with local vet­eri­nar­i­ans and cared for oth­er peo­ple’s ani­mals and fam­i­ly pets, as well as our own. Even­tu­al­ly, my car­ing tran­si­tioned to peo­ple. I am for­tu­nate that I enjoy read­ing and learn­ing, as it became clear that advanc­ing my edu­ca­tion and licens­ing was the best way to improve my abil­i­ty to care for people.

Q: Was there a per­son or expe­ri­ence that influ­enced your career path?
A: My fam­i­ly has always been my great­est influ­encers and supporters!

Q: What do you find most mean­ing­ful about the work you do each day?
A: I enjoy inter­act­ing with patients and co-work­ers every day!

Q: What’s one les­son you’ve learned from your patients?
A: Can­cers and ill­ness­es expose vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties. It is fatigu­ing to be brave. It is impor­tant that I pro­vide good com­mu­ni­ca­tion and care in their treatments.

Q: What do you enjoy doing out­side of work, or what’s your favorite way to recharge?
A: My new favorite expe­ri­ence is Cross­Fit! I am hooked! I was afraid I lacked the abil­i­ty to par­tic­i­pate in such phys­i­cal activ­i­ties. My den­tal hygien­ist, Key­ton, said, ​“You can do it, come join us.” Strange, I thought to myself — I trust him; he is thor­ough and gen­tle in the clean­ing and care of my teeth (I am very par­tial to my teeth). I trust­ed him. So, I went to a Cross­Fit class! I am doing it, and he is there cheer­ing me on! I find it invig­o­rat­ing to be able to offer my sup­port to my class­mates in return as we train togeth­er. Come join us — it is life-changing!

Q: What’s some­thing peo­ple might be sur­prised to learn about you?
A: I have been skydiving!

To learn more about Angela, vis­it https://​www​.quin​cymed​group​.com/​p​h​y​s​i​c​i​a​n​s​/​a​n​g​e​l​a​-​d​uncan.