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
Student Success Focus
The success of our students is at the core of USAHS’s mission. Our staff and faculty offer a range of services to support students both academically and personally. And we plan events for career development, self-care, and fun.
Academic and personal support:
- On-demand tutoring: Our tutoring service offers drop-in hours as well as appointments for one-on-one and group tutoring.
- Mentoring: Ask about mentoring opportunities with faculty.
- Writing service: Our writing service provides free assistance with writing resumes, papers, and capstone projects.
- Counseling: Students get three free counseling sessions per term for support around academic and personal challenges.
Professional development:
- Career days: Students can network and interview with potential employers at our career days. We also maintain up-to-date job boards.
- Lunch-and-Learn events: At these free events, guest speakers present about trending topics in healthcare—such as non-traditional career paths—and students can meet them and ask questions.
- Community service opportunities: Student professional organizations host fundraising and other events, such as an adaptive sports expo, the OT Olympics, OT Advocacy Day, and a beach cleanup.
- Interprofessional learning: Our interprofessional opportunities are a highlight of studying at USAHS. You will collaborate with students from other programs in hands-on clinical simulations to better prepare for real-world practice.
Recent events for self-care and fun have included:
- Destress Fests: We host Destress Fests near finals week—featuring therapy dogs, massage, ice cream, and yoga—to help students modulate their stress.
- Smoothie Day: Faculty members make delicious smoothies for students.
- Service Week: Students, faculty, and their families across the United States volunteer for service opportunities.
- Guest speakers: We invite guest speakers to present on self-care topics such as time management and coping with stress.
- Back-to-school parties: Some campuses host back-to-school parties each term, with DJs and games.
