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. James Lewis is a licensed physical therapist and an educator. He has more than 20 years of experience in outpatient orthopedic treatments and has mentored and taught physical therapists through continuing education coursework. He has taught nationally for both Institute of Physical Art (IPA) and CrunKeyser as a level one instructor in the Foundations (FMT), Kinetic Shoulder (KSC) and Dynamic Foot Ankle (DFA) course work. He most recently joined the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences as a full-time core faculty member to teach musculoskeletal content.
Dr. Lewis specializes in the areas of spine, shoulder and knee injuries and has worked with high school, collegiate, professional and Olympic caliber athletes during his career. His research interests are in the area of dry needling for musculoskeletal injuries with a particular interest in tendopathy and tendinosis treatments.
For 17 years he was the managing partner/owner and clinical educator coordinator at Allen Sports and SpineCare, L.L.P. in Allen, TX. A native of Texas, he received his Physical Therapy degree from Texas Woman’s University-Dallas in 1997. Prior to entering the field, Dr. Lewis served six years in the U.S. Air Force as a B-52H crew chief and is a Gulf War veteran.
Dr. Lewis achieved board certification in 2010 and recertification in 2020 by the American Physical Therapy Association as an orthopedic certified specialist, and in 2006 he obtained recognition as a certified functional manual therapist. In 2013, he received recognition as a certified kinesiotape practitioner. In 2020, he completed his terminal academic degree, Doctor of Science, through Texas Tech University Health Science Center.
