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. Alshammari is an Assistant Professor for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. He finished his entry-level degree in physical therapy in 2006 from Hashemite University, Jordan with honors. He received an outstanding student scholarship award to pursue his higher education in the United States, including masters and doctoral degrees in physical therapy and rehabilitation science.
He completed his post-professional Master of Physical Therapy in 2010 from Loma Linda University in California with honors. He received many student awards through his education in physical therapy and ranked the first (highest GPA) in his class while obtaining his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Continuing his journey in higher education, he finished his PhD in 2015 in Rehabilitation Science from Loma Linda University with an emphasis on balance disorders among the elderly population.
His thesis was titled, “The Effect of Tactile Feedback (Novel Technique) Versus Visual Feedback on Body Sway in Elderly” and was recognized by the World Biomedical Frontier. Dr. Alshammari has been a keynote speaker in international physical therapy conferences and has published and participated in more than 28 research papers related to physical therapy.
Dr. Alshammari has been a full-time professor since 2015, and has taught multiple neuro rehabilitation classes, neurophysiology, neuroscience, neuromuscular II, neuromuscular III, pain science, physical therapy for neurological cases and research methods in physical therapy. He has clinical experiences with inpatient and outpatient neurologic patient populations for more than 15 years. He led a research team at Physical Fitness Laboratory, Loma Linda University from 2010-2015.
In addition, he was primary physical therapy on the Traumatic Brain Injuries team at Loma Linda University Medical Center. He has certificates in vestibular rehabilitation and concussion assessment, as well as medical management. He has attended extensive training on Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT). He joined the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in May 2022.
