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. Joe Donnelly received his Doctor of Health Science Degree in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy from the University of Indianapolis, and his Master of Science in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy from the University of Pittsburgh, and his Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from Daemen College in Buffalo, NY.
He has over 30 years of clinical experience in the area of orthopaedics and manual physical therapy. He has been a Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy (OCS) for 28 years and has worked in a variety of practice settings. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (FAAOMPT HON).
Dr. Donnelly’s areas of interest in teaching include Musculoskeletal Dysfunction, Clinical Reasoning, Pain Sciences, and Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction. He also lectures and teaches the skill of trigger point dry needling. His scholarship efforts are focused in the area of myofascial pain and dysfunction’s effect on movement impairments and dry needling.
He is the Editor of the third edition of the Travell and Simons’ Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. He has presented nationally integrating clinical reasoning, pain sciences, myofascial pain and dysfunction and dry needling. He is active member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and in 2020 he received the highest honor of the profession by being named as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA (FAPTA). He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists and is currently the President of the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, APTA.
