CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas A&M Corpus Christi was recognized as having the best family nurse practitioner program in the country by Intelligent.com
In order to be the best, you must learn from the best. That's why the Island University has over two-hundred students on track to being the best family nurse practitioners in the country.
Academic quality, graduation rate, tuition cost, student resources, and reputation are a few of many reasons the program is the best.
Simulation and clinical learning center supervisor, Ashley Dominguez spoke with 3NEWS and said, "The professors from the very beginning lay out the expectations of the program. We come to a one-day orientation and there, they tell us everything we need to know."
The island university partners with local hospitals and facilities to get their students hands on training. They are given real life practice even when global tragedy hits.
Dr. Elizabeth Loika, TAMU-CC FNP program coordinator told 3NEWS, "When the pandemic hit, we were the first in the community to secure 5,000 vaccines." She explained, "There were only three areas in the state to authorize and give those vaccines."
Many students in the program have a lot on their plate already but that's part of what separates them from others, being able to handle it all. "You learn how to manage your time from the beginning. I still work a full-time job, I'm a mom, I can still take my full-time graduate workload and still be successful." Dominiguez said.
Professors also take on an extra shift outside of the classroom to stay as current as possible. They said, if you don't practice it, you can't teach it.
Loika said, "You have an older population requiring more definitive care, palliative care, and acute needs. Plus, you have diseases that we never had to deal with before, IE and COVID."
Once students complete the program, half of them stay and work in Corpus Christi. Loika added, "My family is here, my roots are here, I was born and raised here. Seeing first-hand the needs of our community, I want to be part of the solution." She explained, "A huge percentage do come back. I guess Corpus is always in their hearts."
To get in the program, students must fill out an application, answer some questions in order to get accepted.
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