Students take core and advanced courses covering theoretical foundations for nursing practice, health systems and models, advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, nursing research and advanced health assessment. Nurse practitioner specialty courses emphasize the care of women and children, adult, and geriatric patients and their families. The total number of credit hours required is 53, which includes 780 hours of clinical practice. The curriculum consists of 15 semester hours of core content, 11 semester hours of advanced practice core content, 21 semester hours of nurse practitioner specialty content, and 6 semester hours of either thesis or non-thesis option. Clinical experiences occur in urban and rural settings. This course of study prepares nurses to take the American Nurses Credentialing Center?s Family Nurse Practitioner Certification Examination or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioner Certification Examination.