Gina Hardage-Athetis, MSc, FNP-CB, PsyD, PhD

Education and early clinical experience: Dr. Hardage-Athetis earned a BSN from OBU in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and later completed an MSN and post-graduate family nurse practitioner track through the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. Her year-round, 3.5-year family nurse practitioner program included pediatric and women’s health rotations, strengthening her foundation in broad family practice care. She also completed a two-year fellowship with a family practice physician, where she developed evidence-based clinical judgment, professional confidence, and a strong commitment to patient safety.

Professional experience: Dr. Hardage-Athetis has practiced as an independent family nurse practitioner and primary care provider at one of the largest family practice clinics in the Southwest. In that role, she provided care for a culturally diverse global workforce and expanded her expertise in family practice. She later transferred to a one-provider clinic, where she delivered episodic care, chronic disease management, preventive health screenings, health education, and HIV prevention through PrEP.

Her personal mission and continued specialization: Six months after Dr. Hardage-Athetis’s son passed from substance use disorder, and six months before she graduated from
her post-graduate family nurse practitioner program, she began a nineteen-year self-directed research pursuit to better understand addiction, treatment barriers, and patient safety. Her work has included twelve years of experience with substance use and mental health disorders, medication therapy, specialty-care facilitation, and counseling for patients and families. Her primary focus has remained overcoming barriers to care and supporting safer, more effective treatment. She continued her education by completing certification in substance use disorder, with specialization in opioid use disorder, through Purdue University, and by completing PsyD and PhD studies in psychology following a post-merger at CPU in San Diego, California.