The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts that the United States will face a shortage of 86,000 physicians by 2036. Washington, D.C., currently has six primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas, meaning that these areas face a critical shortage of primary care physicians.
Nurse practitioners (NPs) have full practice authority in Washington, D.C., which puts them in a unique position to fill these gaps in patient care. NPs in DC even have the option to open private practices if they prefer, opening up many opportunities for their careers.
If you’re interested in becoming an NP in Washington, D.C., the city has four universities that offer multiple nurse practitioner tracks, including those listed below:
Program Overview:
George Washington University is just four blocks from the White House and a 15-minute walk to the National Mall. Founded in 1821 through an Act of Congress, it sought to fulfill George Washington’s vision of an institution of higher learning that taught not only academics but also good citizenship.
GW’s School of Nursing offers multiple pathways for students pursuing careers as NPs. Each of the following specialties offers multiple pathways.
It offers two FNP options for bachelor’s-prepared nurses. The BSN to FNP master’s program offers admission for the fall or spring semesters, and students can enroll either part- or full-time. The program consists of 48 credits and 700 in-person clinical hours. Some courses are taught online, but the program does include two on-campus components, once before starting the first clinical course and again later in the program.
The BSN to DNP FNP program requires 72 credit hours and a minimum of 1,000 clinical hours. This track offers most classes online and has two on-campus learning requirements similar to those in the MSN program. The DNP program also requires a new student virtual orientation in the summer before the program begins and a DNP project presentation in the last semester of the program.
A Post-Graduate MSN to FNP is also available for nurses with an MSN in another specialty. It’s 17 credits with 500 clinical hours and two on-campus requirements similar to those in the MSN and DNP programs.
The BSN to AGNP in Acute Care program consists of 48 credits and 600 clinical hours. It also offers some online coursework but has more on-campus requirements than the FNP programs. In this program, students must attend multiple sessions totaling 11 days throughout the program for hands-on testing and experience with central line insertion, ventilators, airway management, suturing, and chest tube insertion.
The BSN to DNP AGNP Acute Care track is 72 credits with 1,000 clinical hours and has different on-campus requirements than the MSN program. DNP students must attend a mandatory online orientation before the program begins and two on-campus learning experiences to prepare for clinical experiences and program completion. DNP students must also present their DNP projects during their last semester.
GW also offers a Post-Graduate MSN to AGNP in Acute Care, which requires 20 to 23 credits and 650 clinical hours, and it has on-campus requirements similar to those of the DNP option.
Finally, GW also offers multiple options for those wanting to pursue careers as primary care AGNPs. The BSN to AGNP in Primary Care is 48 credits and 600 clinical hours. Again, most classes are online, but there are two on-campus requirements, one that occurs before the students’ first clinical course and the other toward the end of the program.
The BSN to DNP AGNP in Primary Care option is 72 credits and a minimum of 1000 clinical hours. Classes are primarily online, and there is a mandatory virtual orientation, two on-campus requirements similar to those in the other DNP programs, and a mandatory on-campus DNP project presentation in the last semester.
There is also a Post-Graduate MSN to AGNP in Primary Care track with 20 credits and 600 clinical hours. This option has two on-campus requirements similar to other programs, one before the first clinical course and the second in the final semester.
Program Overview:
Classes began at Georgetown University in 1792. It’s the country’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher learning, surviving turbulent eras, including the Civil War and the Great Depression. The School of Nursing opened in 1903 as the Georgetown University Hospital Training School for Nurses.
Today, Georgetown’s School of Nursing offers multiple NP options. The BSN to FNP MSN program is 44 credits with 650 clinical hours and takes between 19 and 27 months to complete, depending on whether the students attend full- or part-time. This distance-based online program offers weekly live classes for real-time, interactive learning as well as asynchronous learning with high-quality online videos, quizzes, and interactive reading assignments. The program also has two on-campus clinical intensive requirements. It boasts a 100% pass rate for national certification exams.
The BSN to DNP FNP option offers entry points for nurses with a BSN. It consists of 15-week terms, with the full-time program having eight 15-week terms and part-time having 11. Both programs include in-person experiences and hands-on clinical hours.
The BSN to AGNP Acute Care MSN program is also distance-based and has similar on-campus requirements as the FNP MSN program, except this program requires three campus visits instead of two. It consists of 40 credits and 600 clinical hours and takes 23 months to complete. There is also a distance-based BSN to DNP AGNP Acute Care program, structured similarly to the FNP DNP program.
Program Overview:
Howard University, founded in 1867, ranks among the highest producers of the nation’s Black professionals in fields such as medicine, law, social work, and nursing.
The College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences offers a BSN to FNP MSN program with 46 credits and 720 clinical hours. The program features clinical workshops where students practice common procedures, such as suturing, giving injections, administering EKGs, draining abscesses, and performing skin biopsies, as well as workshops focusing on HIV-LGBTQ+ care and substance use training. This track also offers an entry point for master’s-prepared nurses to complete a post-master’s certificate to work as FNPs.
Program Overview:
The Catholic University of America accepts students of any faith, though 80% of its undergrads identify as Catholic. It was founded in 1887 as a graduate and research center and began offering undergraduate degrees in 1904.
The Conway School of Nursing was established in 1935, and the first MSN degree was offered in 1951. Today, the university offers a variety of DNP options for students interested in pursuing careers as FNPs, AGNPs, or PNPs. Doctorate-level programs are all designed for students who already have a BSN, and each program features a mixture of online learning and on-campus visits to the school’s state-of-the-art simulation lab.
Each DNP program has different requirements: the BSN to DNP FNP track is 69 to 72 credits with 1060 clinical hours; the BSN to DNP AGNP Acute Care track is 69 to 71 credits with 1060 clinical hours; the BSN to DNP PNP Primary Care track is 67 to 69 credits with 1060 clinical hours, and the BSN to DNP PNP Acute/Primary option is 71 to 73 credits with 1150 clinical hours. It is worth noting that this is the only school in DC that offers NP programs for those interested in specializing in pediatrics.
This university also offers multiple post-graduate options: Post-Graduate MSN to FNP, Post-Graduate MSN to AGNP Acute, Post-Graduate MSN to PNP Primary, and Post-Graduate MSN to PNP Acute/Primary. Credits and clinical requirements vary by program.
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