PhD, RN, MS, PHN, FNP-BC , Doctoral (Alumni)
K. Aimee Fuller, PhD, RN, MS, PHN, FNP-BC, is currently practicing as a family nurse practitioner in Point Loma, California. Dr. Fuller has worked with migrant Hispanic families in public health and with several Native American tribes in the San Diego area. Her area of interest in research is improving Native American health outcomes. Dr. Fuller completed her PhD in 2011 from the University of San Diego Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science. She successfully defended her dissertation entitled “A Retrospective Study of Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders in a Sample of Urban American Indian and Alaska Natives”.
Dr. Fuller earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. In 1999, she earned her Master's degree in Community Health Nursing-Family Nurse Practitioner at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois. During her Master's program her research focus was measuring depression in elderly Native Americans. Upon receiving her certification as a family nurse practitioner, she worked as the Community Health Director and Assistant Medical Director at Southern Indian Health Council (SIHC) in San Diego, California. Additionally, she also provided medical care and health education for adolescents in treatment at the Youth Regional Treatment Center (YRTC) on the La Posta Indian reservation.
Dr. Fuller has had a special interest in diabetes care of Native Americans. She wrote and managed the Indian Health Service "Special Diabetes Grant" for the Kumeyaay tribe. She worked with the medical facility at SIHC to spearhead the first diabetes care clinic in 2002. She collaborated with "Take Control of Your Diabetes" and assisted in the development of the first Native American diabetes conference held on the Barona Indian reservation. There were over two hundred Native Americans in attendance from various tribes.
In 2000, Dr. Fuller was awarded "Excellence in Clinical Practice," from the Alpha Omicron Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau in Chicago, Illinois. In 2002, she received the Council of Community Clinic’s award, "Community Health Hero", for her work in diabetes care at SIHC. Dr. Fuller and her two daughters are members of the Delaware tribe of Northeastern Oklahoma.