Dr. Molli Oldenburg, DNP, MS, FNP BC, AOCNP has a very impressive resume. At the University at Buffalo’s (UB) School of Nursing, she is the Family Nurse Practitioner Program Director, Clinical Associate Professor and the Global Initiatives Coordinator. She has been published nationally and internationally in multiple nursing journals and medical papers, lectured around the world and won multiple awards for her nursing career. She also got her start at Orleans/Niagara BOCES in the LPN program taught by Mary Lewin and Ruth Smith from 1997-1998.
Although ONBOCES no longer teaches that class at the high school level, Molli, a Royalton-Hartland graduate, points to the program and its two instructors as having a huge impact on the nurse and person that she is now. “Taking that program at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center (OCTEC) was very transitional in my life,” she says. “The class was intense and so rewarding. I don’t know where I would be today without BOCES. It prepared me so well to try hard things and it built up my confidence. At 17 and 18 years old, that is so important. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me strive for excellence and success. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lewin had faith in me and their encouragement meant so much to me. Competing at SkillsUSA was a highlight. I demonstrated a glucometer and I placed. It was a great experience.”
After graduation, Molli went to Niagara County Community College and got her Associate of Applied Science (Nursing). She then went to the University at Buffalo where she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). She has worked at Medina Memorial Hospital, Niagara County Community College, Lake Plains Medical Group in Medina, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and UB.
Molli’s role as the Global Health Initiatives Coordinator at UB grew from being raised in a rural environment. “We saw medicine in a rural setting and it sparked my interest in global health,” she says. In her role, she established a Crowdfunding Campaign in 2018 for a medical mission trip to Haiti. Thanks to grant funding to start a Global Health Immersion Tool Kit, they have been able to assess patients, educate them and collect data for further research in Haiti, Greece, Africa, Belize and Peru and rural parts of the United States.
“The BOCES program set the foundation for my future in nursing,” she says. “It built up my compassion as I worked towards my nurse’s aide certification. It also is where I met my best friend to this day Julie Kwoka. She was from Barker and if we had not taken this class together, we would have never met! How crazy is that? We struggled and grew together and our bond has never been broken. I would tell anyone, there is something really amazing about going to school at BOCES. When you walk through the doors, there is an unsaid feeling that you are in a safe zone. I think we all had that feeling. The atmosphere just wraps you up in comfort. I think about that time in my life all the time.”
