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

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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. 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. 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]

[edit] History

Samuel Merritt University was founded in 1909 through the legacy of Dr. Samuel Merritt. Drawn by the excitement of California in the 1850s, Dr. 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. Dr. 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 at in 2002, Samuel Merritt University has fostered a growing reputation for undergraduate and graduate education in the health sciences.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official website