The Department of Health Care Sciences of The George Washington University Medical Center has been in the forefront of nurse practitioner (NP) education since 1972. The Nurse Practitioner Program began as a certificate program that offered an undergraduate degree in health sciences. Currently, GW offers both adult and family nurse practitioner post-master certificates and a master's level nurse practitioner program through a unique partnership with George Mason University. GW was one of the first universities to recognize the need for non-practitioner nurses with masters' degree to be able to transition into the nurse practitioner role. NP Program faculty has served in leadership roles in virtually every nurse practitioner organization in the United States.