Student-FIRST Blended Learning Model

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

High-Tech and High-Touch

USAHS is a leader in blended learning, a model shown to produce better knowledge outcomes in health education.Alexandre Vallée et. al, “Blended Learning Compared to Traditional Learning in Medical Education: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Aug. 8, 2020. With blended learning, you get the best of both worlds: the convenience of online lectures, plus the engagement of in-person practice. Because you’ve learned the material in advance, you’ll be ready to participate in meaningful hands-on class activities with faculty and other students.

“You can go back and watch [the lecture] as many times as you want. Then when you’re in the classroom, you’re able to take what you’ve learned in the lectures and really focus on the hands-on components.”

—Morgan L., USAHS student

94%

of first-year students are very satisfied/satisfied with their USAHS experience USAHS Office of Assessment and Institutional Research, “New Student Survey (Summer 2018),” June 28, 2018.

95%

of first-year students are very satisfied/satisfied with their USAHS admissions experience USAHS Office of Assessment and Institutional Research, “New Student Survey (Summer 2018),” June 28, 2018.

Student-FIRST Learning

At USAHS, we’ve taken blended learning to a new level—to Student-FIRST learning:

Faculty-practitioners: Our stellar faculty-practitioners draw from their diverse expertise to develop our blended learning components—the online coursework and real-world lab activities.

Interprofessional learning: Through hands-on, interprofessional collaboration in our simulation labs from day one, you’ll get practice-ready sooner.

Rehabilitative and health sciences focus: We’re an immersive community of like-minded graduate students focused on helping improve lives.

Student success culture: Everything we do is focused on student success. We strive to offer the best academic experience and career preparation through our learning model, support services, and special events.

Technological innovation: You’ll practice using state-of-the-art technology—clinical and home simulation centers, Anatomage Tables, driving simulators, rehabilitation machines, Double robots—so you’ll be ready to provide the best patient care.