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
Mohamed Khallaf, PT, MS, PhD, DPT is Associate Professor in the University of St. Augustine’s Austin Campus DPT-flex program. Dr. Khallaf earned his MS and PhD Degrees in Physical Therapy from Cairo University in 2006 and 2010 and DPT from the Dominican College of Blauvelt 2015. Prior to joining the USAHS, he was an associate professor in Cairo University with a teaching portfolio of physical therapy for neuromuscular disorders and surgery. For 3 years, he was the head of physical therapy department in the university of Hail, Saudi Arabia with a teaching portfolio of physical therapy for neuromuscular disorders, biomechanics, and research.
Dr. Khallaf’s researches were designed to study the effect of task specific training in the rehabilitation of individuals after stroke. Additionally, he used new technology for analyzing posture of Parkinson’s disease patients and those with herniated lumbar disc. This work resulted in 12 publications in high peer reviewed journals. As an invited speaker, he attended many conferences and gave lectures and workshops in the field of neurorehabilitation in united states and middle east. Dr. Khallaf’s dissertation focused on the rehabilitation of Parkinson’s disease using external cues. This dissertation is published in the annals of Indian neurology 2012. Dr. Khallaf future research will focus on the rehabilitation of stroke patients using virtual reality which has emerged as a rehabilitation technology for patients with neurological conditions.
Dr. Khallaf clinical experience has focused on the neurorehabilitation of adult clients after stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and peripheral neuropathy with an aim to improve the functional performance, and quality of life. He worked for 3 years as a physical therapist in New York city. The practice focused on the rehabilitation of patients with neuromus.
