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. Capshaw brings more than 20 years experience in occupational therapy, practicing in numerous pediatric settings, including public schools, outpatient clinics, and home health. She has specialty certifications in Sensory Processing (STAR Institute Intensive Mentorships- Levels 1 and 2), administration of the SIPT, and handwriting (HWT). She spent one year at the STAR Institute in Colorado, a premiere research and clinical site serving children and families with sensory processing challenges, under the mentorship of Dr. Lucy Miller.
Before coming to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, she spent 14 years in academia and higher education administration at the University of Texas at El Paso, where her teaching, research and service centered around health disparities, cultural competence, border health, community engagement, and pediatric occupational therapy. She has given presentations and taught courses across the United States, including the American Occupational Therapy Association and the Texas Occupational Therapy’s annual conferences, the STAR Institutes’s International Symposium, as well as numerous others. Her clinical, service, and research interests include pediatric occupational therapy, sensory processing, health disparities, cultural competence, service learning, international service learning, community engagement and inter-professional education (IPE).
