Being a physician assistant (PA) is a dream for many people. It is a long journey that bears wonderful fruits. It is a field that requires a lot of dedication.
Learning will have to take part, and the school a person goes to will heavily affect their career.
Everyone wants to be at a top school and one that suits their needs.
Location is one of the factors that people always have in mind when selecting PA schools. Arizona is a beautiful state and home to some of the best PA schools countrywide. If you want to school in the city, you have the task of choosing the school you want.
Top PA Schools in Arizona
Do you want to be a physician assistant? Is your preferred destination Arizona? Here are some of the top PA schools you can choose from in the city.
University of Arizona, Tucson
Whether you’re interested in nursing practice or nursing research, the University of Arizona College of Nursing will give you access to the resources you’ll need to pursue a successful career.
The college was founded in 1957 as a means of addressing Grand Canyon State’s chronic nursing shortage.
Its curriculum emphasizes cross-cultural perspectives and community involvement. When not instructing students, faculty members can be found pursuing cutting-edge research into topics like health determinants and the development of informatics.
Faculty research is funded through grants from sources like the National Institute of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses.
Students begin acquiring clinical skills by participating in drills at the Steele Innovative Simulated Learning Center. Once they’ve mastered nursing basics, students go on to clinical rotations at the University of Arizona Medical Center and other hospitals, clinics, and community health agencies throughout the metropolitan Tucson region.
Several scholarship opportunities are available to University of Arizona students who’ve declared a nursing major; to identify these opportunities, you’ll need to register with the Scholarship Universe database.
Scholarships are only awarded to students who’ve been accepted into the university and who’ve submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. The FAFSA is also a prerequisite for state and federal grants and loans.
Arizona State University, Phoenix
Arizona State University’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation is one of the finest in the nation.
Its programs are designed to prepare you to deliver health care in community settings as well as in more traditional hospital environments.
Research initiatives associated with this nursing school in AZ include the Center for Advancing Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research; the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and the Center for World Health. Health care is a rapidly evolving field, and a degree from this school will help prepare you for whatever changes tomorrow brings.
Nursing classes are spread out over the university’s three campuses in Phoenix.
The 18,000-square-foot Simulation & Learning Resources facility, located in the Mercado complex in downtown Phoenix, contains virtual hospital rooms, skills labs, a health assessment lab, and a computer library commons.
Clinical rotations take place at the Mayo Clinic as well as other hospitals, community agencies, clinics, and schools throughout Phoenix and its suburbs.
Students can also opt to participate in a two-week Peruvian service-learning experience where they’ll have the opportunity to learn more about that country’s urban, rural and traditional healthcare settings.
Grand Canyon University, Phoenix
At Grand Canyon University’s College of Nursing and Health Care Professions, instructors work hard to translate nursing theory into real-life scenarios like the ones you’ll encounter on the job.
Though Grand Canyon University no longer maintains its affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention, Christian values still inform its teaching philosophy, and you can expect the professionalism and critical thinking skills you learn here to be tempered by a strong sense of accountability.
This college has been singled out by the ranking site College Factual as a particularly good program for military veterans who are interested in becoming nurses.
Classes take place at GCU’s Banner Boswell campus in northwest Phoenix. In spring 2018, nursing students began learning basic clinical skills in a new, state-of-the-art simulation lab equipped with high-tech manikins programmed to respond to stressful stimuli in ways that mimic the responses of human patients.
The college’s partners for clinical rotations include Banner Del Webb Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Mercy Gilbert Hospital, and other acute care, ambulatory care, and community care facilities throughout the Phoenix metropolitan region.
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff
At Northern Arizona University’s School of Nursing, you’ll be taught how to personalize the nursing care you give so that it meets the specific needs of the individual, family, or community you’re serving.
This institution is another one of those nursing programs in Arizona that were created to address critical staffing shortages in the Grand Canyon State. NAU offers the only reservation-based baccalaureate nursing program in the U.S.
This program has been designed to meet the needs of Native American learners as well as the Navajo and Hopi communities they live in.
Hands-on learning opportunities on the Flagstaff campus include a sophisticated simulation lab where students respond to healthcare scenarios similar to the ones they will encounter in hospital environments; the only difference is that high-tech manikins fill in for human patients.
NAU nursing programs also provide hands-on experiences through clinical rotations at hospitals, clinics, agencies, and schools in communities like Flagstaff, Cottonwood, Sedona, Gallup, and Tuba City.
If you’re interested in discovering more about global healthcare needs, sign up for a study-abroad opportunity in the Netherlands or East Africa through NAU’s Center for International Education.
Practice in Arizona
There has been a shortage in this field in the state of Arizona.
Nurses and nurse practitioners who specialize in behavioral health issues will be in particularly high demand.
Hospitals are pulling out all the stops to attract graduates of accredited nursing schools in Arizona by offering perks like signing bonuses, free housing, and even paid tuition. Get started on your PA journey in one of the above schools.