Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are advanced healthcare practitioners with similar responsibilities, such as diagnosing illnesses and prescribing medications. However, their training and paths toward certification differ in significant ways. This blog post unpacks the key differences between NPs and PAs to help you determine which career path best aligns with your goals. What Is a Nurse Practitioner? A nurse practitioner (NP) is a licensed clinician who provides comprehensive healthcare to patients of all ages. An NP can work in virtually any healthcare setting, diagnosing patient conditions and prescribing medications. As of October 2022, nurse practitioners have full practice authority in 27 states, meaning that they can practice Read more
Dr. Angela M. Gibson serves as Contributing Faculty and Doctoral Advisor in the Doctor of Education program at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. Dr. Gibson has more than 25 years of experience in higher education, academics and student affairs at a diverse set of colleges and universities. She is faculty for the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Institute for Professional Development teaching in the Online Teaching Certificate Program, designing and facilitating professional training, and serving as a mentor to professional educators. She has served as a Lecturer in the Higher Education Administration Leadership doctoral certificate program and the Adult Education graduate program at Texas A & M University – Kingsville. She has also taught first-year, undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional students, designed and developed curriculum, and created initiatives and strategic planning for student learning and engagement, first-year experience, strategic learning and innovation.
Dr. Gibson received a Master of Arts in Human Performance Systems, with a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design from Marymount University and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, with concentrations in Adult Education and Community College Education, from Texas A & M University – Kingsville.
Dr. Gibson has been published in various peer-reviewed journals, sits on journal editorial boards and regularly presents at national and international conferences. In 2019, she was a Keynote Speaker for the OLC Innovate Conference. She has served on the OLC Conference Steering Committee as Chair, Presenter Services in 2021 and Chair, Technology Test Kitchen in 2017.
Dr. Gibson is a NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Solar System Ambassador and volunteers as an informal STEM educator, creating learning opportunities at schools and community organizations as well as providing social media outreach for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). She is a recipient of the OLC 2014 Effective Practice Award and was part of the team receiving the 2017 OLC Effective Practice Award. In 2021, Dr. Gibson received the Board Excellence Award for Excellence in Teaching from the USAHS Board of Directors.
