Samuel Merritt University

Coordinates: 37°49′15.53″N 122°15′49.56″W / 37.8209806°N 122.2637667°W / 37.8209806; -122.2637667

Samuel Merritt University
Motto Potissimus Optimus
Type Private
Established 1909
Academic staff
 250
Undergraduates 580
Postgraduates 500
260
Location Oakland, California, United States
Campus Urban
Website www.samuelmerritt.edu

Samuel Merritt University, formerly Samuel Merritt College, was founded in 1909 as a hospital school of nursing. It is a fully accredited health sciences institution located on the Summit campus of the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, California, United States. Samuel Merritt offers undergraduate degrees in nursing and graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant, occupational therapy, and podiatric medicine. The baccalaureate nursing program is offered cooperatively with Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, Mills College, Holy Names University and Notre Dame de Namur University. Samuel Merritt University is an affiliate of the Sutter Health Network and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.

Samuel Merritt is the only provider of physical and occupational therapists and physician assistants and is the largest source of nurses in the greater East Bay.[1]

History

Samuel Merritt University was founded in 1909 through the legacy of Dr. Samuel Merritt. Drawn by the excitement of California in the 1850s, Merritt left his Maine home to seek his fortune in the west. He settled in Oakland, and as a dedicated physician, architect, ship builder, and civic planner his influence was etched on the history of the city. Merritt left plans for a hospital to be built in his name after his death. His dream was realized in 1909 when Samuel Merritt College and Samuel Merritt Hospital opened their doors.

In recent years, Samuel Merritt has increased its enrollment from 146 to over 1,000 graduate and undergraduate students and added new programs in the health sciences. Samuel Merritt's students represent all ages, ethnicities, and geographical locations.

The Intercollegiate Nursing Program with Saint Mary's was established in 1981.[2] Samuel Merritt College established the entry-level Master of Physical Therapy in 1990, the Master of Occupational Therapy in 1992. The College also offers a Master of Science in Nursing three advanced nursing specialties: Case Management, Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), and Nurse Anesthesia (CRNA). In 2005, the department of Physical Therapy graduated its first Doctor of Physical Therapy class.

With initiation of the Master Physician Assistant program in 1999, the first entry-level graduate program for physician assistants in California, and the establishment of the California School of Podiatric Medicine in 2002, Samuel Merritt University has fostered a growing reputation for undergraduate and graduate education in the health sciences.

University Partnerships, Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Samuel Merritt University provides prospective students the opportunity for guaranteed admission to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program as juniors by applying directly to a partnership program for pre-nursing at four San Francisco Bay Area schools, Holy Names University, Mills College, Saint Mary's College of California or Notre Dame de Namur University. Future students are only allowed to repeat a prerequisite course once at any partnership school before non-consideration to the program is enacted. Following completion of two years of pre-nursing courses, students who meet all conditions of the partnership program are guaranteed admission to Samuel Merritt University for the completion of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

Accreditation

The nursing program at Samuel Merritt University is fully accredited by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ For the 2007/2008 academic year, 355 Samuel Merritt nursing graduates took the NCLEX exam compared with CSU East Bay - 83, Merritt College - 43, Chabot College - 34, Ohlone College - 50, Contra Costa College - 81, Los Medanos College - 46, and Unitek College - 36 http://www.rn.ca.gov/schools/passrates.shtml
  2. ↑ Saint Mary's College of California, History of the College, accessed May 24, 2007
  3. ↑ "CCNE-Accredited Nursing Degree Programs: California". American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
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